Around 5500 women have reportedly suffered maternal deaths in Rawalpindi every year, mainly because of lack of spacing in pregnancies According to the Population Council, every fifth woman in Punjab gets pregnant against her will. Not only is this a moral and ethical problem but it can also result in a population problem, as there are only so many resources. This discussion took place at the “Public Dialogue on the Current Situation of the Population in Punjab” event. On the topic of spacing between pregnancies, the Chief of Jamia Masjid (Bahria Town) said that according to the Quran, a mother should breastfeed an infant for upto two years, which makes it more difficult for the mother to get pregnant as it is.
The implementation of natural birth spacing also has positive impacts on the mother’s health. He clarified that prevention of a birth was completely different, and that abortion was prohibited in Islam. DHA CEO agreed that there was an extreme need for counselling on family planning. As the Masjid’s Chief had said, Islam had not bound disciples to produce a certain number of children and more children require more resources as well. However, the topic of family planning is still taboo in society and the health department is short of staff. Read more from ProperGaanda: Religious Discrimination Has Increased In Schools, Shows Report