Antibiotics, alcoholic beverages don’t prevent pregnancy - Experts

Adolescents engage in unprotected sex and other risky sexual behaviours because of some wrong beliefs and impressions about how to prevent unwanted pregnancy. These risky sexual behaviours predispose adolescents to sexually transmitted infections, unsafe abortion and other reproductive health problems.

Oftentimes, misconceptions about the usefulness of condoms and other contraceptives expose many unmarried adolescents to the risk of unwanted pregnancies and sexually transmitted infections (STIs). Some young people have the misconception that pregnancy could be prevented by the use of hard drugs, laxatives, white chlorine, and boiled alcoholic beverages.

In South-Eastern Nigeria, a study that explored some of the mistaken beliefs about condoms and other methods of preventing pregnancy among adolescents indicated that some still use hard drugs, laxatives, white chlorine and boiled alcoholic beverage as emergency contraceptives.

“Despite the high-level awareness on contraceptives, in Southwest Nigeria, some young persons also have the misconception that urinating; drinking of saltwater and antibiotics immediately after sex can prevent pregnancy,” Mrs  Adesola Fanimokun, an adolescent and youth reproductive health educator, said.

Fanimokun said adolescents’ silence on sexual intercourse and relying on their peers in school and community, social media and movies for information on sexuality and reproductive health continues to sustain misconceptions about contraceptives.

She said: “They keep recycling wrong information within their social cycle. They cannot go to places like clinics for the right information because of the fear of someone reporting to their parents and stigma. And parents are not ready to normalise discussions on contraception with young people, forgetting that if they don’t tell them, someone outside will. Of course, the information some peers give is based on their biases, and as it soothes their personal interest.”

Mrs Famimokun said some educated women still believe that antibiotics like Flagyl and  Ampiclox taken after sex act as preventive against pregnancy. That is why some adolescents assume these drugs, including saltwater and carbonated alcoholic drink, work as an emergency contraceptive.

Chairman, Association for Advancement of Family Planning, Dr Ejike Orji, stated that barriers to contraception and adequate and appropriate information on contraception remains because of the delusion by parents and religious leaders that adolescents are not having sex.

Dr Orji, a reproductive health and rights specialist, quoted the National Demographic Health Survey (NDHS) report, putting the age of sexual debut in Nigeria at 15 to 16 years, thus predisposing many adolescents to unprotected sexual intercourse and increases the likelihood of unintended pregnancies, unsafe abortions and STIs.

He added that “adolescents and young ones die more from abortion complications, they are disproportionally represented in that group. A study by Packard foundation in 2005 showed that almost 70 per cent of all maternal mortality is in those between the ages of 15 and 16. So, if we make sure they don’t get pregnant before age 16, we can reduce maternal mortality by almost 50 per cent.”

Dr Orji stated that improvement in Malawi’s modern contraceptive use by 50 per cent and reduction in maternal mortality was achieved because information was taken to secondary schools and adolescents that were sexually active, were counselled and allowed to have a contraceptive method.

This 2021 study on the beliefs and misconceptions about contraception and condom use among adolescents in southeast Nigeria was undertaken in six local government areas in Ebonyi State. Data were collected within a period of one month from in and out-of-school adolescents aged 13 to 18 years using 12 focus group discussions (FGD). It was in the journal, Reproductive Health.

Although the majority of the adolescents were knowledgeable about methods of contraception, how they are used and their modes of action, including the dual effects of condoms in the prevention of pregnancy and STIs, some misconceptions still persist that put many adolescents at increased risk for pregnancy and STIs.

For instance, the study said some of the adolescents perceived that condoms reduce sexual pleasure, and this opinion was mostly held by boys. Coitus interruptus (withdrawal method) was therefore considered preferable to condoms for the prevention of pregnancy.

Emergency pills were perceived to work by flushing away spermatozoa from a girl’s system after sexual intercourse. Male condoms were perceived to be potentially dangerous because they could break and enter into the body of the female sexual partner. Also, some adolescent boys had the notion that particular brands of male condoms could be washed and reused.

Some adolescent girls perceived that condom use during sex increases sexual pleasure because of the assurance of being protected from STIs and pregnancy. Adolescent boys were of the opinion that condoms interfere with the pleasure of direct ‘flesh to flesh’ contact during sex. There was a general belief that contraceptive use at an early age reduces their fertility prospects later in life.

Mistaken beliefs about methods of preventing pregnancy persist among adolescents, and this raises concerns about the quality of the information they receive and the need for concerted efforts to debunk these wrong beliefs and properly educate adolescents on safe sex practices.