[b]Port Elizabeth[/b] doctors are lauding women for their enthusiastic response to a new contraceptive implant, saying it is a major boost for the fight against maternal deaths. Dr Mafundo Mabenge, head of obstetrics and gynaecology in Port Elizabeth’s public hospitals, is quoted in [s]The Herald[/s] as saying that he was happy with the response to the implant, which is effective for three years. Nurses at the hospitals’ family planning clinics started offering the implant, the size of a matchstick, as a contraceptive choice last month. So far 24, women have opted for it. Figures indicate that 171.4 mothers per 100,000 live births died of pregnancy- or childbirth-related complications last year. In addition, SA’s latest maternal death statistics indicate that while teenagers made up 8% of the national number of pregnant women in the country, they accounted for 36% of maternal deaths.
[link url=http://herald.newspaperdirect.com/epaper/showarticle.aspx?article=75ef65e4-05f2-45c0-9ab7-4c5bd0d43d31&key=%2b4f8DStbUPcscPrOH3bUow%3d%3d&issue=81472014052700000000001001]Full report in The Herald (subscription needed)[/link]