Contraception: An Essential Part of Women's Health Care

As part of our goal to reduce maternal mortality and suffering, Doctors Without Borders/Médecins Sans Frontières (MSF) offers a range of contraception options to women at our projects all over the world. "Women need to be able to choose a method that suits them, that fits their particular circumstances," explains MSF midwife Liza Ramlow, "what kind of access to care they have, whether or not they want something that others will be able to detect they're using." Here, Ramlow describes her experience working at MSF's project in Central African Republic, where she says she saw a huge demand for contraception. Providing contraception helps prevent death and injury because it reduces the overall number of pregnancies, which can be dangerous for women with little access to health care, and it prevents unsafe abortions, another main cause of maternal mortality.