{"id":94378,"date":"2025-07-09T16:54:19","date_gmt":"2025-07-09T16:54:19","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/everyday.ng\/?p=94378"},"modified":"2025-07-09T16:58:59","modified_gmt":"2025-07-09T16:58:59","slug":"reproductive-health-it-is-also-mens-business","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/everyday.ng\/?p=94378","title":{"rendered":"Reproductive health: It is also men’s business!"},"content":{"rendered":"

For years, society treated reproductive health like it belonged in a pink box, tucked away and handed only to women, something whispered about in girls-only conversations or hidden behind pharmacy counters. Men were expected to stay out of it, and many did. Some still do.<\/p>\n

But the truth is this: reproductive health affects everyone, directly or indirectly. It\u2019s not just about female anatomy or periods or childbirth. It\u2019s about life, relationships, responsibility, and health for all.<\/p>\n

Let me explain:<\/p>\n

1. Men are part of the reproductive story too:
\nNo one gets pregnant alone.
\nNo one navigates fertility alone.
\nNo one raises children in isolation.<\/p>\n

Men are partners in sex, fertility, parenting, and decision-making. Yet, many grow up without proper education on these topics. Many still don\u2019t know how their own reproductive systems work, let alone how to support their partners\u2019.<\/p>\n

This lack of knowledge doesn\u2019t just hurt women. It leads to poor decision-making, broken relationships, delayed care, and emotional distress for everyone involved.<\/p>\n

2. Fathers, brothers, husbands, sons all have a role to play<\/p>\n

Reproductive health isn\u2019t just relevant to men as partners, it matters because of the women in their lives.<\/p>\n

\u25cf A father who understands menstruation will not shame his daughter for period stains or leave her to suffer in silence.
\n\u25cf A brother who knows about menstrual pain can be a supportive friend, not a mocker.
\n\u25cf A husband who understands postpartum depression or miscarriage is more likely to stand by his wife with compassion rather than confusion or detachment.
\n\u25cf A male teacher or leader who is informed can advocate for inclusive policies and safe spaces for young girls.<\/p>\n

When men are educated, they become advocates instead of bystanders and when men show up, society shifts.<\/p>\n

3. When reproductive health fails, society suffers:<\/p>\n

Reproductive health is connected to so many issues we all face:<\/p>\n

\u2022 Teenage pregnancy leads to school dropouts.
\n\u2022 Period poverty keeps girls out of classrooms.
\n\u2022 Gender-based violence often has roots in poor sexual health education.
\n\u2022 Maternal mortality is a crisis that robs families of mothers, daughters, wives.<\/p>\n

When these issues are seen as \u201cwomen\u2019s issues,\u201d they\u2019re underfunded, under-discussed, and misunderstood.<\/p>\n

But when society wakes up and says, \u201cThis affects us all” then we start to see policy change, deeper conversations, and real compassion.<\/p>\n

So What Can We Do?<\/strong><\/p>\n

1. Educate boys and men. Not as an afterthought, but intentionally.<\/p>\n

Include men in sexual and reproductive health programmes. As learners, as advocates, as leaders.<\/p>\n

2. Create environments where men and women can talk openly about periods, sex, fertility, contraception, and parenting.<\/p>\n

Because when we stop treating reproductive health like it belongs to one gender, we start building a healthier, safer place.<\/p>\n

\"\"\u25cf\u00a0Deborah can also be reached at deborahomaojo2000@gmail.com<\/strong><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

For years, society treated reproductive health like it belonged in a pink box, tucked away and handed only to women, something whispered about in girls-only conversations or hidden behind pharmacy counters. Men were expected to stay out of it, and many did. Some still do. But the truth is this: reproductive health affects everyone, directly […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":7,"featured_media":94380,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[5773,6555,5810],"tags":[1235,2987,7195],"class_list":["post-94378","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-health","category-men","category-women","tag-health","tag-men","tag-reproductive"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/everyday.ng\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/94378","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/everyday.ng\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/everyday.ng\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/everyday.ng\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/users\/7"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/everyday.ng\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcomments&post=94378"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/everyday.ng\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/94378\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/everyday.ng\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/media\/94380"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/everyday.ng\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=94378"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/everyday.ng\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcategories&post=94378"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/everyday.ng\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Ftags&post=94378"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}