Comments on: Deliver This: Female Condoms and Maternal Health http://www.ourbodiesourblog.org/blog/2010/06/deliver-this-female-condoms-and-maternal-health Daily dose of women's health news and media analysis Wed, 08 Feb 2012 16:46:25 +0000 hourly 1 http://wordpress.org/?v=3.0.1 By: Kiki Kalkstein http://www.ourbodiesourblog.org/blog/2010/06/deliver-this-female-condoms-and-maternal-health/comment-page-1#comment-3736 Kiki Kalkstein Fri, 25 Jun 2010 16:01:03 +0000 http://www.ourbodiesourblog.org/?p=11739#comment-3736 Yes, you're right. Female and male condoms need to be both adequately funded and accompanied by education programs, to address supply issues and the cultural barriers that prevent them from being used. Fortunately, there are programs, such as Women’s Action Group in Zimbabwe, that have successfully overcome these obstacles by equipping women with good negotiation skills and by involving men and entire communities in female condom promotion efforts. In addition, the newly FDA-approved FC2 female condom addresses the noise factor--it's made from a different material specifically to reduce the noise. Another key thing to consider is that women are demonstrating a demand for female condoms in countries with high maternal mortality rates. As donors, how do we respond? These are the women who can guide us through how to work with men and women to discuss condom negotiation. While not intended to be a panacea, nor “secret” protection (although in some cases like when a man is drunk, it can provide her protection that he doesn’t need to be involved in), female condoms are an option that protect against HIV/AIDS, STIs and can delay pregnancy—and they are being requested by women and reproductive health practitioners in the field. Giving women another tool and the skills to protect themselves is always a good option. See an example of reintroducing female condoms in Uganda: http://www.rhrealitycheck.org/blog/2009/06/26/uganda-reintroduce-critical-tool-hiv-prevention-female-condoms Yes, you’re right. Female and male condoms need to be both adequately funded and accompanied by education programs, to address supply issues and the cultural barriers that prevent them from being used. Fortunately, there are programs, such as Women’s Action Group in Zimbabwe, that have successfully overcome these obstacles by equipping women with good negotiation skills and by involving men and entire communities in female condom promotion efforts. In addition, the newly FDA-approved FC2 female condom addresses the noise factor–it’s made from a different material specifically to reduce the noise.

Another key thing to consider is that women are demonstrating a demand for female condoms in countries with high maternal mortality rates. As donors, how do we respond? These are the women who can guide us through how to work with men and women to discuss condom negotiation. While not intended to be a panacea, nor “secret” protection (although in some cases like when a man is drunk, it can provide her protection that he doesn’t need to be involved in), female condoms are an option that protect against HIV/AIDS, STIs and can delay pregnancy—and they are being requested by women and reproductive health practitioners in the field. Giving women another tool and the skills to protect themselves is always a good option.

See an example of reintroducing female condoms in Uganda: http://www.rhrealitycheck.org/blog/2009/06/26/uganda-reintroduce-critical-tool-hiv-prevention-female-condoms

]]> By: Ariel http://www.ourbodiesourblog.org/blog/2010/06/deliver-this-female-condoms-and-maternal-health/comment-page-1#comment-3729 Ariel Wed, 23 Jun 2010 22:59:27 +0000 http://www.ourbodiesourblog.org/?p=11739#comment-3729 In theory this is a great point, and I too after attending a seminar on female condoms left with the same hopeful and urgent attitude. Later I discussed the issue with my boss, who had spent two years in Kenya for the Peace Corp. She was less than optimistic about the panacea potential for female condoms. Her complaint was that they can be quite noisy during intercourse, and partners can feel them. A major obstacle to condom use in Africa and in many places where maternal mortality is a large issue is because women lack the cultural authority to initiate a discussion about birth control, and those that do are deemed promiscuous. For a woman who doesn't use a condom for this reason, using a female condom could have disastrous results if her partner were to find out that she was "sneaking" in birth control. This discussion happened last year, so hopefully things have changed since then. But unless the female condom is better designed to avoid such incidences from occurring, then its usefulness will be limited. In theory this is a great point, and I too after attending a seminar on female condoms left with the same hopeful and urgent attitude. Later I discussed the issue with my boss, who had spent two years in Kenya for the Peace Corp. She was less than optimistic about the panacea potential for female condoms. Her complaint was that they can be quite noisy during intercourse, and partners can feel them. A major obstacle to condom use in Africa and in many places where maternal mortality is a large issue is because women lack the cultural authority to initiate a discussion about birth control, and those that do are deemed promiscuous. For a woman who doesn’t use a condom for this reason, using a female condom could have disastrous results if her partner were to find out that she was “sneaking” in birth control. This discussion happened last year, so hopefully things have changed since then. But unless the female condom is better designed to avoid such incidences from occurring, then its usefulness will be limited.

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