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requent child births have led to high mortality rates among mothers, a senior family planning official says.

National Demographics and Family Planning Agency (BKKBN) chairman Sugiri Syarief said Tuesday that increasing the adoption rate of Intra Uterine Device (IUD) contraceptives would be an effective way to lower the trend.

According to the 2007 Indonesian Health and Demography Survey (SDKI), the country’s maternal mortality rate reached 228 per 100,000 live births, which means about 10,000 women die as a result of childbirth every year. Indonesia has the highest maternal mortality rate in Southeast Asia.

“We have to create awareness of the safety of IUDs and how effective it is at birth control,” Sugiri told a media briefing on long-term contraceptive methods held by DKT Indonesia, a US based-social marketing enterprise specializing in family planning and the fight against HIV.

Severe hemorrhaging was responsible for about 28 percent of all maternal fatalities during childbirth in Indonesia, and 24 percent were caused by eclampsia.

Women who are too old or two young, too short a space between pregnancies, and getting pregnant too often are the biggest contributors to complications during childbirth, he said.

“It is important to arrange a sensible gap between pregnancies, and avoiding unwanted pregnancy,” Sugiri said.

According to the BKKBN, out of 29 million women who use contraception, 32 percent use injection-based contraceptives, 27 percent take pills, and 12 percent use implants.

Only 8 percent or about 2.5 million of the total 29 million women use IUDs.

The low number is due to a lack of medial workers educated in IUD insertion methods, and false myths about the contraceptive.

In Indonesia, the IUD has been associated with a number of health risks such as bleeding and infertility, but many international studies show that IUDs are an effective reversible birth control method with few side effects.

Women using IUDs experience few complications compared to other hormonal contraceptives such as the pill and injections, as well as implants.

“With newly invented technologies, people should have no concerns about using IUDs since they have a wide range of types. Users can choose the most suitable one for them,” said Todd Callahan, Country Director of DKT Indonesia, which developed Andalan Family Planning Program.

Citing an example, he said that DKT Indonesia had recently introduced two new types of IUDs called IUD Silverline Cu 380 Ag and Cu 200 Ag.

“IUD Silverline is made using the latest technology for copper bearing IUD type. This contraception has a silver core inside the copper; so, it is not porous, which results in improved effectiveness of the tool at preventing pregnancy,” Callahan said.

A IUD Silverline device costs Rp 195,000 (US$22.82) but it can last for five years.

Djajadilaga, a gynecologist from the Indonesia Obstetrics and Gynecology Association (POGI), said obese and woman with diabetes would not have side-effects using the IUD.

Common side effects of IUDs include bleeding. A study showed that 12 percent of IUD users had slight bleeding while using the contraceptive, and some experienced a longer menstrual period.

Djajadilaga said such bleeding might bring problems if it caused hemoglobin levels to decrease by up to 8 percent.

— JP/Elly Burhaini Faizal