Injectible Contraceptives Compete with Pills, Favorite Method among Women, Study says

Although pills remain to be the most popular contraceptive among women, statistics show that injectable contraceptives is slowly competing with the pills and becoming the favorite family planning method among women in Cebu City.

Cebu City Health Officer Stella Ygoña said the latest statistics show that more women are now starting to use injectibles. Contrary to the previous data where most of the 13,441 women who availed of their services are using pills, the latest shows that 1,242 prefers injectibles and only 290 remains pill users.

Injectable contraceptives or the depot-medroxyprogesterone acetate (DMPA) is a long-acting progestational contraceptive, which is administered by injection. The injectable contraceptive was developed in the mid-1960s, when it was seen as a method that would be particularly useful for women seeking reversible contraception because they had difficulty taking a pill every day.

Although Ygoña failed to give the reasons why the use of injectable contraceptive slowly becomes popular in the city than pills, there are some women who volunteered to be interviewed about the issue.

Zenaida, 34, who works at the Cebu City Hall said sometimes she failed to take the pills due to busy schedule.

“Makalimot ko usahay og inum sa akong tambal mao nga pirmi lang ko nga magdoble-doble og inum aron mabawi ang adlaw nga wala ko makainum. Maayo ning injection lang kay tagdugay man ka magpa-injection og balik (Sometimes I had to take twice to cover for the days I’ve missed. Injectible is better because it takes sometime before you need to have another shot),” she said.

Pills shall be taken by women everyday while a dose of injectable contraceptive will last between three to six months.

Aside from pills and injectibles, other methods of family planning that are commonly used are the Intra-uterine Device (IUD), a small “T-shaped” device inserted into the uterus to prevent pregnancy, and the natural family planning method, the so-called rhythm.