Burundi : family planning, a hot topic for many Burundian families

Life has become very expensive in Burundi. Feeding a large family, especially in cities where many people only have their salary as a source of income to ensure their children’s education, medical care, clothing and housing, has become a real headache. Socio-economic challenges are now pushing many families to consider birth control. But some couples do not agree on contraceptive methods, whether in rural or urban areas.

INFO SOS Médias Burundi

Caritas N. from Rumonge province (southwest Burundi) says that her husband does not accept abstinence.

“I would like to use contraceptives to limit births but my husband does not agree. I already have six children and I do not want to have more. I am a housewife and my husband is a day laborer. I am very worried about the future of our children. I suggested using condoms to my husband but he refused, arguing that he cannot use them with his own wife,” she confides.

She continues, “I used the contraceptive injection but it did not work for me and I was afraid to try other methods. Now, my husband and I no longer speak to each other because of this.”

Denise, for her part, has already had five children by caesarean section. She does not want to use contraceptive methods because of her beliefs while her husband asks her to.

This topic divides the couple to the point that the husband had decided to abandon his home, had it not been for the intervention of the family council and the couple’s close friends.

Many social or economic pressures still prevent Burundian women from choosing the number of children they want to have.

Nevertheless, households that are becoming aware of birth control are increasingly numerous. A state of affairs that is in line with the many calls from the authorities at the highest level, such as the Head of State.

——

Young women and girls participate in a birth control and child vaccination program in Rumonge in southwestern Burundi (SOS Médias Burundi)