Description
Mobile Contraception clinics in Guatemala are proving very popular among women. Guatemala has one of the fastest population growth rates in the Western Hemisphere. Birth control is culturally controversial and not often accessible.
YOUNG MOTHERS:
But a mobile family planning clinic is offering a variety of contraceptive methods to hundreds of women in Guatemala. Here – more than half the population do not use any form of birth control. Half of the country’s women have a child before the age of 19.
In this film we meet Vilma Danari who is 26 years of age and already has five children. She wants to get permanently sterilised.
NO SURGERY REQUIRED:
The mobile family planning team reaches out to remote communities across the country. Health care is out of reach for many people. We profile a team of eight people from Aprofam – a Guatemalan organisation that promotes family planning. They set up a one day walk-in clinic in rented locations, such as schools or clinics around the country.
A sterile room is carefully put together to carry out small surgical procedures. One of the most popular forms of contraception is the tubal ligation procedure – a permanent steralization method.
Unlike other kinds of tubal ligation procedures that require hospitalization, the technique in Guatemala is performed as an outpatient surgery under a local anaesthetic. In the clinic we filmed in the team perform 20 surgeries a day.
EMPOWERING WOMEN:
They offer other non-permanent treatments, such as arm tube inserts, a slow release of hormones that allows family planning for at least five years.
Every week, Aprofam conducts nine mobile contraceptive clinics across Guatemala, offering women an option for voluntary birth control and empowering them to plan their families and improve their health.