Delivering for displaced women

One day in October last year, Fatima’s life was forever changed.

“Boko Haram killed 32 people in my village, so I ran. Two of my children died then.”

Fatima is 40 years old and has given birth 13 times. Six of her children are still alive. Two were killed during Nigeria’s Gwoza massacre, when Boko Haram militants dressed as soldiers slaughtered over 2,000 civilians in her village and the surrounding area.

Fatima and her family have resettled in a nearby village, where they have been met with empathy and kindness. They have been given some land to farm on, but times are hard and putting food on the table is an ongoing challenge.

“Our home village is still not settled, so it is better for us to stay here. But we are only living by faith. I am tired, the suffering is too much. There is peace here, but no money. It is very difficult to support our children. We don’t have much food.”

As a result of all this instability, Fatima decided to get an IUD. She and her husband made the decision to start using family planning after meeting with Marie Stopes Nigeria team members when they visited the area.

“That’s how I got the information to start. Most people had the implant, but I chose to have the IUD. They said any time I’m tired of it, I can come for a removal. But I am very happy with it. I am tired of giving birth. I don’t want to give birth again.”

The entire Marie Stopes Nigeria team is working hard to cover the north-east part of the country, where Fatima has temporarily relocated. One of our team members, Faith, has made it her priority to find and help internally displaced people (IDPs) — in particular, women and families.

“We don’t have IDP camps here in Gombe as we live in a more peaceful part, but we do have displaced people in host communities. They come here to find safety, and we help those women with family planning too if they want it.”

Faith organizes group counseling sessions in local communities, where she provides women with information about contraception — something they have often never had access to before. She says that many women are interested in avoiding pregnancy, but still feel the need to access contraception secretly.

“At the end of my sessions, the women often go away and pretend to go home and then come back again 30 minutes or an hour later, when the group has gone, to access the methods.”

The outreach team also makes trips to rougher territory, holding clinics and providing contraception to those who need it.

“Sometimes we go out into the more troubled areas. Last year, we went to visit the Jigawa community, and at that time, that place was not peaceful at all. But the women were rushing to come round to collect our services, even when they were being chased from their homes. It was very heart wrenching. They were living in the bush or forest. But they were so afraid of becoming pregnant in such an uncertain environment. So when they heard there was family planning, they still rushed to come and get it, and then ran back to where they were hiding again.”

For women and girls living in uncertain and unstable environments, taking charge of their reproductive destiny is often a vital step toward regaining control of their future — and access to family planning is a key component. No matter where, no matter when, no matter who — every woman deserves the ability to make her own decisions about her body, and whether or when she wants children.