Enoch Stephen
At just 25, Husaila Ado Warawa already looks older than her age.
In her small compound in Imawa community, Warawa Local Government Area (LGA), her five children chase one another barefoot.
Although Husaila didn’t take permission from her husband to speak on family planning, she insisted on conversing with this reporter.
To do that, she had to move 3 huts away from her residence, to speak under a Neem tree (Dogon-yaro in Hausa) because of the sensitivity of the topic.
She said spacing their children wasn’t something she had adequate knowledge of after getting married, but after getting the knowledge of such, it was already too late.
“My husband and I never had any conversation about family planning shortly after marriage. We just started having children.
“When I knew about it, I knew it was already too late to speak with him about it.
“Being the woman of the house at a very young age, I didn’t have any say about the issue, so I kept having children without spacing,” she said.
Without family planning or proper child spacing, she found herself nursing one child while already carrying another.
The breaking point came during her fifth pregnancy when Husaila’s frail body could no longer carry the weight of frequent childbirths.
She was still breastfeeding her fourth child, who was seriously ill, when she was heavily pregnant with her fifth.
“He was so ill with fever, and I didn’t have the strength to take him to the traditional doctor for treatment because I was too weak at that time.
“I felt like I was masked in exhaustion.
“I thank God that my husband came and took him to the doctor, after which he got better,” she narrated.
Husaila’s Financial Repercussions For Not Planning Childbirth
While Husaila’s husband, a peasant farmer, tries desperately to provide for the family, it is insufficient as they cannot adequately provide 3 meals per day nor send their children to school.
“We are not starving, but it is never enough. Every day feels like a struggle between feeding today and preparing for tomorrow,” Husaila said.
According to her, the weight of responsibility has pushed them into survival mode.
She has no job outside farming, and the cycles of pregnancy and childcare have kept her from pursuing any form of economic empowerment.
She said her dreams of learning a trade or starting a small business fade daily under the burden of motherhood.
What makes Husaila’s story even more heartbreaking is the danger she repeatedly places herself in.
All five of her children were delivered at home, assisted only by local birth attendants.
“I am aware that giving birth in a health facility is better because the personnel are more skilled and experienced,
“But we cannot cover the little costs that arise when children are born in the hospital.
“Not planning my birth has been a problem, especially this financial challenge that we have found ourselves in.
“If I had known about child spacing earlier, I would have adopted it,” she admits.
Child Spacing Progress, Challenges in Kano
Dr. Barka Aisha, the Reproductive Health and Family Planning (RH/FP) Coordinator at the Kano Ministry of Health, highlighted both progress and persistent gaps in the distribution of family planning commodities in Kano.
She noted that the contraceptive prevalence rate (CPR) has steadily increased from 0.5% in 2013 to 11.1% in 2023.
However, unmet needs have risen from 11.1% in 2013 to 26.0% in 2023.
She cited stock-outs as a major barrier to the low rate of unmet needs in the previous years
“In 2024, there is about 65% demand for FP commodities, and there is an adequate supply in facilities where these demands are created.
“More women and even men are now accepting family planning in Kano.
“We have different kinds of family planning commodities that are available to combat the stock-out syndrome that previously existed within our facilities.
“With this, we are confident that the statistics of women who die due to pregnancy-related complications, many of which could be prevented with safer deliveries and family planning, will be significantly reduced,” she assured.
