There’s been a great deal of
controversy over the topic of contraception over the years, but especially as of late. Not everyone agrees what the true role of contraception should be, although each has his or her own opinion. Regardless of those views, what researchers have come to learn through scientific study is that contraception is actually
saving lives.
Preventing Death during ChildbirthContraceptive use can drastically improve the number of deaths due to childbirth each year, especially in developing countries. In fact, researchers at the Johns Hopkins Bloomberg School of Public Health recently published a study showing that birth control likely prevents over 272,000 maternal deaths worldwide.
And if we were able to really universalize the availability of contraception, there could be a reduction of an
additional 30 percent.
The study, which was aimed at showing how effective preventative measures can be, found staggering information and statistics about the bleak outlook of birth in some countries. It’s estimated that nearly 230 million unintended births could be controlled with proper contraception, helping the roughly 358,000 women and 3 million newborn babies that die
each year due to complications related to pregnancy or childbirth. That’s why the research team is pushing the need to accelerate the scope of contraception in developing countries.
As for the nitty gritty of the estimates, the team at Johns Hopkins used a counterfactual modeling approach towards the World Health Organization’s maternal mortality estimation method. Survey birth data was analyzed for female populations aged 15 to 49 years in 172 countries, using general fertility rates from the United Nations World Population Prospects database in 2010. According to the researchers, there would be an estimated 44 percent reduction in maternal deaths worldwide
if contraception was readily available.
Why is this So Important?It might be tough for some of us to truly understand this problem, as the war on contraception wages in our country because of our bevy of options. While legislators fight over whether or not the people in our country
should be able to use protection, there are millions of people worldwide dying because of its unavailability. Unwanted fertility is still a massive problem in developing countries, and not everyone is fortunate enough to be able to go to the CVS and buy a pack of condoms.
So with these staggering numbers, hopefully change will follow. If preventing the epidemic of deadly childbirth in some countries is as easy as providing condoms and other options, then hopefully there are leaders who will fight for such a program.
Because a newborn baby should be cause for celebration and joy, not the harbinger of a disastrous worldwide issue.
Cited Sources"Contraceptive Use Averts 272,000 Maternal Deaths Worldwide."
Johns Hopkins Bloomberg School of Public Health. N.p., 9 July 2012. Web. 19 July 2012. <http://www.jhsph.edu/news/news-releases/2012/ahmed_contraception.html>.
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