The recently published 2022 Ghana Demographic and Health Survey (GDHS) indicates the that Ghana’s overall fertility rate has declined moderately over the past decade.
According to the Survey, fertility rate fell from 4.2 children per woman in 2014 to 3.9 children today.
This shows that family planning efforts in the country are having a small but measurable impact.
The Deputy Government Statistician, Dr Faustina Frempong Ainguah, in a presentation at the dissemination of the 2022 GDHS report on household water and sanitation, fertility and family planning in Accra on Tuesday, stated that the reduction in fertility is a positive sign, though moderate.
She noted that awareness campaigns and increased access to contraceptives are slowly shifting mindsets and behaviors.
The survey found encouraging trends that more Ghanaians wish to have smaller families.
About 30% of married women and 38% of men want to delay pregnancy, while 30% of women and 27% of men want no more children.
“The growing desire for smaller family sizes points to further declines in fertility rates in the future if quality reproductive health services can reach all regions,” Dr Ainguah explained.
The data revealed stark divides in teen pregnancy rates between rural and urban areas. In remote northern and eastern regions, up to 26% of girls ages 15-19 have been pregnant, versus just 6% in Accra.
The Director, Clinical Care at the Ghana Health Service, Dr Lawrence Ofori –Boadu, called for improvement in health systems and access to quality care to achieve better outcomes nationwide.
The survey shows that of all pregnancies ending in the three years before the survey, 82 percent resulted in live births and 18 percent in pregnancy losses.
Richard Aniagyei, ISD