DR. JANICE Woolford, as Director of the Maternal and Child Health Services of the Georgetown Public Hospital Corporation (GPHC), announced that that medical institution has begun to distribute contraceptives at the Accident and Emergency Unit of the GPHC, in accordance with a recent decision to have emergency contraception available for public distribution, and the Maternal Health Department has recently been trying to promote emergency contraception as one of the main methods of family planning.

She made this disclosure in a telephone interview with this publication on Tuesday last, when she disclosed that the prevalence rate for contraceptive use increased from 34.5 per cent to 43 per cent in 2011.
She noted that the Maternal Health Department has also been inserting intrauterine devices (IUDs) post-delivery as a contraceptive measure, especially for women from outlying and hinterland areas, where monitoring has been proving very problematic in recent years, and most times there are serious problems with referrals for hinterland areas, hence this step was taken.
Finally, she said there have been strong linkages between reproductive health and HIV prevention, treatment and care; and, as such, maternity patients have been undergoing screening for HIV and HIV-related infections during and after pregnancy.