Family planning
From Wikiprogress.org
Contents |
Definition
Family planning refers to the planning of when to have children,and the use of birth control. It allows individuals and couples to anticipate and have their desired number of children, and to achieve healthy spacing and timing of their births. Family planning is achieved through use of contraceptive methods and the treatment of involuntary infertility.[1] Other techniques commonly used include sexuality education, prevention and management of sexually transmitted infections, pre-conception counselling and management, and infertility management.[2]
Key facts
• Approximately 222 million women in developing countries would prefer to delay or stop childbearing but are not using any method of contraception.[3]
• Family planning reduces the need for unsafe abortion.[4]
• Family planning reinforces people’s rights to determine the number and spacing of their children[5]
• Worldwide, 1 in 5 girls will have had a child by the age of 18.
• Young mothers are likely to be poor, less educated and to live in rural areas.
• The lifetime risk of maternal death – the probability that a 15 year old girl will ultimately die from a maternal cause – is 1 in 3,800 in developed countries but 1 in 150 in developing countries.
• A national survey in Nigeria in 2005 found almost a third of women believed that certain methods of contraception could lead to female infertility.
• Every $1 spent on family planning saves more than $4 that would be spent treating pregnancy-related complications.
[6]
Benefits of family planning
• Saving children's lives: There are strong links between family planning and improvements in child health and survival. There are two key means by which access to contraception can positively influence the health and well-being of children:
1. Healthy spacing of pregnancies - ill-timed pregnancies and births, are strong contributing factors to infant mortality rates. Infants of mothers who die as a result of giving birth have a greater risk of death and poor health.[7]
2. Children having children: Throughout the world complications in pregnancy are the leading killer of girls and young women aged 15–19. Each year 50,000 teenage girls and young women die during pregnancy or childbirth. In many cases this is because their bodies are not ready to bear children. Babies born to young mothers are also at far greater risk than those whose mothers are older.[8]
• Well-being: Promoting family planning and ensuring access to different contraceptive methods for women and couples is vital to ensuring women's well-being and autonomy, whilst supporting the health and development of communities.[9]
• Prevention of HIV and AIDS: Family planning lowers the risk of unintended pregnancies among women living with HIV, resulting in fewer infected babies and orphans. Additionally, male and female condoms protect against unintended pregnancies as well as STIs including HIV.[10]
• Empowering people and enhancing education: Family planning helps people make informed choices about their sexual and reproductive health. Family planning represents an opportunity for women for enhanced education and participation in public life, including paid employment in non-family organizations. Additionally, having smaller families allows parents to invest more in each child. Children with fewer siblings tend to stay in school longer than those with many siblings.[11]
• Reducing adolescent pregnancies: Pregnant adolescents are more likely to have preterm or low birth-weight babies. Babies born to adolescents have higher rates of neonatal mortality. Many adolescent girls who become pregnant have to leave school. This has long-term implications for them as individuals, their families and communities.[12]
Family planning services
Services include information and counselling by health workers about modern contraceptive methods, provision of these methods or prescriptions, and related surgical procedures (for example, intra-uterine devices (IUD) insertion or sterilisation).[13]
Contraception
Modern forms include oral contraceptive pills; implants; injectables; patches; vaginal rings; diaphragms; IUDs; male and female condoms; vasectomy or female sterilisation.
[14]
See also
Every woman's right: How family planning saves children's lives
References
- ↑ Save the Children, 2012, Every woman’s right: How family planning saves children’s lives
- ↑ WHO, 2012, Family planning
- ↑ WHO, 2012, Family planning fact sheet
- ↑ WHO, 2012, Family planning fact sheet
- ↑ WHO, 2012, Family planning fact sheet
- ↑ Save the Children, 2012, Every woman’s right: How family planning saves children’s lives
- ↑ WHO, 2012, Family planning fact sheet
- ↑ Save the Children, 2012, Every woman’s right: How family planning saves children’s lives
- ↑ WHO, 2012, Family planning fact sheet
- ↑ WHO, 2012, Family planning fact sheet
- ↑ WHO, 2012, Family planning fact sheet
- ↑ WHO, 2012, Family planning fact sheet
- ↑ Save the Children, 2012, Every woman’s right: How family planning saves children’s lives
- ↑ Save the Children, 2012, Every woman’s right: How family planning saves children’s lives
