Dr Arikawe Adeolu, a medical practitioner in Abuja, on Friday warned women against choosing contraceptive methods without proper medical advice.
Adeolu, who works at the Federal Medical Centre, Jabi, told the News Agency of Nigeria (NAN) that choosing contraceptive method without advice had a lot of health complications.
He, however, said that this depend on the medical history and health status of an individual.
According to him, those with obese or heart disease required proper counselling as some contraceptive methods can cause more harm.
“Some of these methods are not good for people who have particular conditions such as heart disease and obesity.
“It has been shown that a large number of women use the implantable progesterone only contraceptive but this contraceptive should not be recommended for women who are overweight.
“For women who have some form of heart condition, you have to be careful in giving them the combined contraceptive that is eostrogen and progesterone because of the effect it may have on the heart.
“The contraceptive that is good for women is actually individualised; so, you have to be examined and your medical history checked so that the expert is guided on what contraceptive is good for you,” Adeolu said.
He listed some contraceptives often used to include postinor, deprofoveral, injectable contraceptive and the Intrauterine Contraceptive Device (IUCD), among others.
Adeolu says deprofoveral is a contraceptive implanted under the skin, adding that this can remain in the body up to three years.
According to him, injectable ones you take once in two to three months while the IUCD is inserted into the uterus and forms a physical barrier to pregnancy and does not distort the cycle.
He said that those who used the IUCD could however experience complications such as pelvic pain, increased risk of developing pelvic inflammatory disease.
“Sometimes this device can be dislodged or displaced in the uterus, it can puncture the uterus or even find a way to leave the uterus and go into the abdomen itself.
“Although these complications are rare, they can still occur. The effectiveness of contraceptives depends on the individual taking them.
“If a person (woman) adheres to prescription given by a health professional, then there is more guarantee that it will work.
“Women who adhere to this prescription but still miss their menstrual cycle, pregnancy may not be the cause because these drugs are very effective; if a dose is missed and menstruation does not occur then pregnancy may have occurred,’’ said the expert.
He said that when pregnancy occurred, continuing the use of any contraceptive could not terminate the growth of the foetus because contraceptives were used to prevent pregnancy and not terminate it.
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