Promoting Reproductive Security in Developing Countries
Promoting Reproductive Security in Developing Countries provides a comprehensive approach to developing and implementing reproductive health programs in the developing world. It fills a major gap in the literature by responding to the global need for a de
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ISSUES IN WOMEN’S HEALTH Series Editors: Ralph J. DiClemente and Gina M. Wingood Emory University Rollins School of Public Health Atlanta, Georgia
HANDBOOK OF WOMEN’S SEXUAL AND REPRODUCTIVE HEALTH Gina M. Wingood and Ralph J. DiClemente INTIMATE PARTNER VIOLENCE Societal, Medical, Legal, and Individual Responses Sana Loue PROMOTING REPRODUCTIVE SECURITY IN DEVELOPING COUNTRIES Maurice I. Middleberg
PROMOTING REPRODUCTIVE SECURITY IN DEVELOPING COUNTRIES Maurice I. Middleberg New York, New York
KLUWER ACADEMIC PUBLISHERS NEW YORK, BOSTON, DORDRECHT, LONDON, MOSCOW
eBook ISBN: Print ISBN:
0-306-47935-4 0-306-47449-2
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Preface For twenty years, it has been my privilege to be part of an extraordinary transformation—the evolving human encounter with sexuality and reproduction. Sex and childbearing are often linked to our most intense and joyful moments—the discovery of one’s identity, the wonder of intimacy, the miracle of holding a child in one’s hands for the first time. Sex and reproduction can and should be profoundly healthy—physically, emotionally and spiritually. This includes the ability to make free and informed choices in matters of sex and reproduction, healthy pregnancy and healthy sexuality. It is sadly the case that intimacy and its aftermath are often blighted by illness and trauma. In the course of working in dozens of countries over this period, I have witnessed some heartbreaking moments. There was the young woman in Togo, only in her early twenties, who was in despair over her sixth pregnancy. I can still see the men’s AIDS ward in a hospital in Haiti, filled with haunted, skeletal figures. I can hear the voice of the woman in Kenya, who feared she would beaten by her husband. There was the taxi driver in Cameroon who shared his worries about being able to care for his children, while feeling pressured by his extended family to have more offspring. I remember watching a woman in agony from eclampsia on the floor of a tiny rural clinic in Cambodia that was bereft of the simple medication that could help her. My colleagues and I put her in a car to be driven into the city, where she might receive treatment. I never learned what happened to her, but the image of her on the floor of that clinic returns to me frequently. These vignettes are more than offset by testimonies of hope and progress. In the remote village of Cuschcandahy, Peru, the home of the village health worker is adorned with a sign that reads, “Family planning here”. In India, a group of men allowed me to sit in on their discussion of the dangers of encouraging th
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