FAMILY PLANNING

Family planning is the decision-making process by couples, together or individually, on the number of children that they would like to have in their lifetime, and the age interval between children. This means that both halves of a couple have equal rights to decide on their future fertility. In planning their future children, partners need to have the right information on when and how to get and use methods of their choice without any form of coercion. Such planning therefore helps mothers and their children enjoy the benefits of birth spacing and having planned pregnancies.  Family planning is one of the leading strategies to improve family life and welfare, control unwanted population growth, and aid the development of the nation.

BENEFITS OF FAMILY PLANNING

Social and economic benefits

1. It is not difficult for parents to clothe and feed their children if they can limit their family size. The expenses that they need to care for a small-sized family will be less, so they can save more and be self-sufficient. 

2. With regard to social services, both the government and the family invest less if the family and population size is small. This can help save essential resources and thereby contribute to the economic growth of the nation as a whole.

Generally, having a larger proportion of well-educated, healthy, productive and self-sufficient families can contribute a great deal to the sustainable development of a country. In this regard, the social and economic benefits of the family are essential. 

3. Empowering people and enhancing education. Family planning enables people to make informed choices about their sexual and reproductive health. Family planning represents an opportunity for women to pursue additional education and participate 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.

Slowing population growth

4. Family planning is key to slowing unsustainable population growth and the resulting negative impacts on the economy, environment, and national and regional development efforts.

Health benefits to the mother

1. Family planning reduces health risks to women and gives them more control over their reproductive lives. With better health and greater control over their lives, women can take advantage of education, employment and civic opportunities. Families with fewer children are often able to send those children to school so girls get a chance to attain higher education, and as an outcome, the age of their first marriage is often later and their years of fertility reduced. They also benefit from being an employee.

2. Contraceptive use reduces maternal mortality and improves women’s health by preventing unwanted and high-risk pregnancies and reducing the need for unsafe abortions. 

3. Some contraceptives also improve women’s health by reducing the likelihood of disease transmission and protecting against certain cancers and health problems. 

3. Avoiding too early and too late pregnancies: Family planning helps mothers avoid pregnancy when they are vulnerable because of their youth or old age. The risk of having pregnancy-induced hypertension (high blood pressure) is much higher in younger mothers. On the other hand, older mothers, who have given birth to 5 or more children, have a tendency to uterine rupture during labour, which can cause severe vaginal bleeding and shock. 

4. 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.

5. Preventing abortion: Most abortions result from unwanted pregnancy, and significant numbers of maternal deaths can be attributed to unsafe abortion induced by untrained practitioners. In Addis Ababa, abortion is one of the leading causes of maternal death. Family planning helps mothers prevent such unwanted pregnancies.

6. Helping to prevent HIV/AIDS. Family planning reduces the risk of unintended pregnancies among women living with HIV, resulting in fewer infected babies and orphans. In addition, male and female condoms provide dual protection against unintended pregnancies and against STIs including HIV.

Benefits to the children

• Family planning directly contributes to the improvement of children’s health and growth. Together with other health services, such as diarrhoea and pneumonia management, the nutrition programme and the expanded programme on immunization, 

• It also indirectly contributes to children’s wellbeing and development by improving maternal health. Adequately spaced children can be well fed and healthier than closely spaced children. Mothers can have ample time and good health to care for their children. Parents should be able to seek healthcare for them without being constrained.

Reducing infant mortality. Family planning can prevent closely spaced and ill-timed pregnancies and births, which contribute to some of the world s highest infant mortality rates. Infants of mothers who die as a result of giving birth also have a greater risk of death and poor health.

METHODS OF FAMILY PLANNING

Contraceptive methods are generally classified into natural and artificial (modern) methods.

1. Natural family planning. This is also known as a fertility-based awareness method. These include the temperature method, calendar method, cervical mucus method, lactational amenorrhoea method (LAM) and coitus interruptus, or the withdrawal method.

2. Artificial or Modern methods which include;

A. Barrier method

Chemical barrier eg spermicides like foaming tablets, creams, jelly

Mechanical barrier eg diaphragm, cervical caps and condoms

B. Hormonals eg oral contraceptive pills like mini pills (pop- progesterone only pill), and Combined oral pils

C. Injectables eg Depo provera, noristerate

D. Implants e.g. IUD they are of 2 types 

The medicated types eg CUT 380 – 6years, multiload Cut 5 years, cut 250 3 years, etc.

Non medicated eg lippes loop, saf t coil, Dalton shield

E. Sterilization eg vasectomy and bilateral tubal ligation

Natural family planning (NFP)

Natural family planning (NFP) is the method that uses the body’s natural physiological changes and symptoms to identify the fertile and infertile phases of the menstrual cycle. Such methods are also known as fertility-based awareness methods. There are some physiological processes and observable changes during the menstrual cycle. Once a month an egg is released from one of a woman’s ovaries (ovulation); it can stay alive in the uterus for about 24 hours. Men can always produce sperm cells, and these can stay alive in the female reproductive system for about two to five days after being deposited in the vagina during sexual intercourse. What this means is that from a fertility point of view, women have periods of time during their cycle when they are unlikely to conceive, whereas men have no ‘safe period’.

However, these methods depend on the awareness and ability of the couple to identify the fertile and infertile phase of each menstrual cycle, and also require cooperation between the couple to abstain from, or to have, sexual intercourse, depending on whether they are trying to avoid or achieve pregnancy