Sarah Adedokun

Sarah Adedokun

I will try as much as possible to ensure that those … in my church also learn about family planning.
– Sarah Adedokun

After the birth of her first child two years ago, Sarah Adedokun decided she didn’t want another one right away. At the same time, she was afraid that her husband, as a church leader, wouldn’t support her choice to start using contraception. So she decided to keep secret her use of an injectable contraceptive.
Unfortunately, Sarah had trouble remembering when she was due for the next injection and soon she became pregnant with her second child. Fearful that she would end up pregnant yet again, she was withdrawn around her husband, Prophet Abiodun Adedokun. This caused a lot of tension at home.
“I tried the first option and it did not work out and I told myself, ‘Enough is enough, not another child’,” Sarah recalls.
The couple had a breakthrough when Abiodun heard about the benefits of family planning during one of the community activities in his village led by CCP’s Nigerian Urban Reproductive Health Initiative 2 (NURHI).
“When I heard the nurse explaining about family planning, I became so excited and went back home immediately to talk to my wife about it,” he says. “Apparently, she knew about family planning, but had never told me anything. She even confessed that she had tried the injectable but got so confused about the dates”.
Lack of spousal communication has been cited as one of the major barriers to the use of modern contraception in Nigeria and NURHI has been working to break down those barriers.
After the conversation with her husband, Sarah visited one of the NURHI-supported health clinics. Today, Sarah is using a long-acting IUD. With her fear of an unplanned pregnancy allayed, she and her husband are closer than ever and are now strong proponents of family planning in their village. “I will try as much as possible to ensure that those … in my church also learn about family planning,” she says.