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INTRODUCTION

Adolescence is a period when a child transitions from being a teenager to being an adult. It is the most vulnerable stage of development because, during this stage, young people develop physical, emotional and intellectual maturity and have reproductive health challenges.

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One of the reproductive health issues is sexual intercourse and the choice of contraception. Contraception is one of the effective ways of preventing unwanted pregnancies. In Nigeria, for instance, abortion is illegal and there have been reports of unsafe abortion practices in Nigeria.

Guttmacher Institute estimated an average of 456,000 unsafe abortions yearly in Nigeria.1.

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Women's reproductive rights may include some or all of the following: the right to legal and safe abortion; the right to birth control; freedom from coerced sterilization and contraception; the right to access good-quality reproductive healthcare; and the right to education and access in order to make free and informed reproductive choices2

Proper sex education has been on the decline these days. An average adolescent has a poor knowledge of the methods available for contraception; a majority of them might only know about pills and the barrier contraceptive (condoms).

For those still in the dark, contraception is a voluntary act of preventing pregnancy by interruption of the normal events that lead to pregnancy. Coitus Interruptus (withdrawal method) is the oldest method of contraception that is still practiced till date.

Some of those aware of these contraceptives (pills and condoms) are poor users of the contraceptive services because of the embarrassing scenario they face when acquiring it. For the bold,They find out that it is easier to purchase a pill over the counter than to go to the clinic to insert an Intra-uterine Contraceptive Device (IUCD).

In this write-up, I will try to throw more light on another method of contraception that might not be so popular because of the poor information on it. I have a belief that with the right knowledge about contraceptives, unwanted pregnancies would be reduced drastically.

INTRA-UTERINE CONTRACEPTIVE DEVICES (IUCD)

Mirena_IUD, By Sarahmirk CC BY-SA 4.0-Source: Wikipedia-Public Domain

IUCDs are objects made of plastics or non-reactive metals that are inserted into the uterus to prevent a woman from getting pregnant. They could be made of different shapes - loops, coils, spirals. They are usually impregnated with progesterone or copper ions.

The historical background predates the 19th century; a similar method was practiced by camel drivers in North Africa. They discovered that when pebbles were inserted into the uterus of female camels, it prevented them from getting pregnant.

Over the years, this great invention has evolved from collar stud and wish bone to the modern day copper IUCD, which was introduced in the 1970’s.

The advantages of an IUCD over the other forms of contraception are enumerated thus.

• It is cheap and long-lasting ( A copper IUCD can last up to 10 years before a replacement)
• It doesn’t interfere with sex, meaning that the un-pleasurable condoms agony would be history and there would be no need to worry about pregnancy.
• It can be easily removed when pregnancy is desired.
• It has a low failure rate compared to the other methods of contraception.
• It has no effect on breastfeeding, meaning that after giving birth, it can be inserted while the mother breastfeeds without worries.

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However, there are also disadvantages I must point out about the IUCD device:

• It only protects against pregnancy, but not against sexually transmitted infections and HIV; hence this would not be a good choice for people with multiple sexual partners.
• It must be inserted by a skilled health professional.

An IUCD can be requested by any female for insertion, this is called an elective request. This request could arise as a desire for child spacing, preference for this method, women that have completed childbirth but do not want a permanent surgical contraception, and also people that hormonal contraceptive pills are contraindicated.

Remember that this is a skilled professional procedure, so the female would have to undergo proper evaluation in a hospital with detailed questioning to prevent the problems peculiar to certain individuals that IUCD is not meant for. Examples of these include a heavy bleeding during menses (menorrhagia), hypersensitivity to copper, pelvic inflammatory disease (PID) etc.

Insertion is usually done during the beginning of the next menstruation to ensure that there is no pregnancy. Follow up visits is usually 3 monthly to ensure the IUCD is still in place.

CONCLUSION.

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The ABC (Abstinence, Be faithful, Condomize) guideline of sexual health is now out-dated because of the availability of materials relating to sex on the internet. Knowledge of the IUCD, which I discussed earlier should be handy in the list of contraceptive options available when making a Contraception choice.

REFRENCES

• Abortion in Nigeria
• Intra Uterine Device (IUD)
• Copper IUD
• Reproductive rights

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