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More women using vaginal ring for family planning

Majority of breastfeeding women in the country are using the progesterone vaginal ring (PVR) for family planning, a report shows.

PVR is a contraceptive designed specifically for use by breastfeeding women in the first year postpartum.

Research by by US-based Population Reference Bureau (PRB) shows PVR is an acceptable method of contraception in Kenya, Nigeria and Senegal and other developing countries.

The report notes that 89 per cent of women reported high rates of satisfaction with the method after three months of use, which increased to 98 per cent at six months.

The study also found out that more than 70 per cent of the women found the PVR easy to insert, remove and reinsert. Furthermore, these proportions rose the longer the women used it.

The study was done by the Ministry of Health in collaboration with PRB and the Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation.

According to the research, users, their husbands and their providers find the PVR acceptable for breastfeeding women. There is widespread community support for the product and it is feasible to integrate into existing health systems. Attraction of new users will contribute to the global family planning (FP2020) goal to add 120 million additional contraceptive users.

The aggregated sample across the three countries reflected a young demographic, with over two-thirds of study participants being under the age of 29. According to the study, unique features of the PVR that drove users' choice were that it can be user-initiated/controlled (35 per cent), is short-acting (10 per cent) and can be used while breastfeeding without detrimental effects (six per cent).

Four per cent of users reported the novelty of a new technology.

A majority of women did not report any ring expulsions, although five per cent did.

Half the women reported that they had felt the ring slip occasionally. However, with provider guidance and their own experience, they learned to reinsert or reposition the ring, so they did not feel it slipping.

The PVR had no detrimental effects on intercourse.

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