Contraception and family planning
Patient education
- No method suits everybody
- Most can be started the same day
- Only condoms also stop infection
How long one action lasts
Sorted by the one thing you can compare before you know anything else: how often you have to do something. The bars show the order of magnitude, not exact time, and none of this says which is right for you.
Drawn for AfyaMesh. Not yet checked by a clinician.
What it is
Family planning is deciding whether and when to have a child, and using something that holds until you are ready. It is not one thing. Some methods you take yourself, some a nurse fits and you forget about for years, and all of them stop when you want them to.
When to seek urgent care
There is severe pain low down on one side with a missed period; bleeding that soaks a pad or cloth every hour; pain, swelling or redness in one leg; chest pain or difficulty breathing; a sudden severe headache, or blurred vision; or yellow eyes.
What are the facts
The national survey asks women what they are using and what they want. The gap between those two answers is the thing worth looking at.
Married women in Cameroon
15.4%- Were using a modern method of contraception at the 2018 survey
- 19.3% were using any method, including the ones that depend on counting days
All women aged 15 to 49
16.4%- Were using a modern method, married or not
Wanting to wait, using nothing
17.7%- Of all women had an unmet need for family planning: they wanted to avoid or delay a pregnancy and were not using any method
- That is more women than were using a modern one
Country comparison
Your countryEnable GPS or choose a country in the interactive reader to compare its figures with the top ten.
In Cameroon more women wanted to avoid a pregnancy and were using nothing (17.7%) than were using a modern method (16.4%). The shortage is not of willingness.
How to read these numbers
Survey years differ and are shown on every bar. Cameroon's most recent Demographic and Health Survey was in 2018, so its figure is older than most of the countries above it and the gap today is not known.
A modern method means pills, injections, implants, devices placed in the womb, condoms, and permanent methods. Counting days and withdrawal are methods, but not modern ones, which is why the two percentages differ.
Unmet need counts women who are able to become pregnant, do not want to be soon, and are using nothing. It is a measure of unmet demand, not of what anybody should choose.
Sources checked 2026-11-07.
How it shows
The choice is mainly about how long you want to wait and what fits your life. There are pills taken by mouth, an injection repeated every few months, a small rod placed under the skin of the arm, a device placed inside the womb, condoms, and permanent methods for people who are sure they have finished. Only condoms also protect against HIV and other infections passed on during sex.
What to do
Go to a health centre and ask for family planning. Say how long you want to wait, whether you are breastfeeding, and what you have used before. A nurse or midwife goes through what suits you and starts it the same day where she can. Nothing is decided for you, and you can change method later.
Family planning consultations and several methods are given at public health centres, often free or at low cost - ask before you pay. Emergency contraception is a separate thing: it is for after unprotected sex, it works better the sooner it is taken, it does not end a pregnancy that has already started, and it is not meant to be anybody's regular method.
Choosing, and changing your mind
Methods differ mainly in how long they last and how much you have to remember. Some are taken daily, some are repeated every few months, and some are placed once and left for years. All of them stop when you decide they stop, and fertility returns after most of them quickly.
There is no single best method, only the one that fits a particular life. A woman who cannot keep a packet at home without it being found needs a different answer from one who simply dislikes injections, and both answers exist. Say what matters to you - privacy, not having to remember, not changing your periods, being able to be pregnant soon - and the choice narrows quickly.
What a clinician checks, and why
A few conditions change which methods are safe rather than whether you can have one at all. Migraines with visual warning signs, high blood pressure, a previous blood clot, liver disease and breast cancer each close off one group and leave others open. This is why the choice is made with somebody rather than at a counter.
Breastfeeding matters too, and in the opposite direction from what people expect: it does not rule family planning out, it points towards particular methods. Tell whoever you see how old the baby is and whether you are feeding only by breast.
After unprotected sex
Emergency contraception is a separate thing from a regular method. It is for after sex that has already happened, it works better the sooner it is used, and it does not end a pregnancy that has already started. It is not meant to be anybody's usual method, and it does not protect you for the next time.
There is more than one option and they have different windows, so say how long ago it was rather than only what you want. Afterwards is the moment to arrange something that lasts, because the conversation is already open.
Sources
- Family planning/contraception methods · World Health Organization · CC BY-NC-SA 3.0 IGO
- Medical eligibility criteria for contraceptive use, 6th ed. · World Health Organization · CC BY-NC-SA 3.0 IGO
Statistics and population data
Cameroon 2018 survey - comparisons use each country's most recent survey. Sources checked 2026-11-07; this is separate from clinical review.