The effect of the use of contraceptives among female students in Holy Family Nursing and Midwifery Training College Berekum

Abstract

The study focused on the effects of contraceptives use among female students in Holy Family Nursing and Midwifery Berekum. A descriptive cross-sectional survey was used to collect in depth information for the study. The respondents were obtained using the stratified sampling method. A total of 50 participants was used for the study.Majority of respondent 42 (84%) think it is good to use contraceptive because it prevent unwanted pregnancies, it help couples to space their children and also prevent maternalmortality, whiles minority of respondent 8 (16%) said they think it is bad to use contraceptives because it can lead to uterine problems, it can also change your menstrual flow and it can cause cancer with long term use. The study recommended that sex education is vital in providing information and knowledge to enable the adolescent, be better equipped for the decisions they have to take with regards to sexual activities and their outcomes. Finally, there is an urgent need to undertake programs that would empower adolescents, especially females, to become assertive in negotiating condom use every time they want to have sex and do not want to use other contraceptive methods. The district health management teams could include this in their school health programs and occasional health talks to identified youth groups.The study concluded that students have scanty knowledge on the use of contraceptives. Individual factors, coupled with socio- cultural factors as well as other health service factors from the conceptual framework can be seen to have an effect on the adolescent student use of contraceptives. The study also revealed that good perceptions being held by students. Students again had an attitude of not caring if contraceptives were available or not; their only care was for avoidance of pregnancy. They had no fear they were susceptible to sexually transmitted diseases and infections. There is a growing need to improve service provider skills on quality adolescent sexual and reproductive health services that are youth-friendly. Adolescents should be better equipped to make better decisions concerning their sexuality as well as intensive education on their vulnerability to sexually transmitted diseases and infections.