Family planning

Introduction

Family
planning involves consideration of the numbers of children a woman or couples
wishes to have including the choice to have no children as well as the age at
which she wishes to have them. This program has been effective at reducing
unwanted pregnancies among low-income women and adolescents. It allows
individuals and couples to decide and attain their desire number of children
and the spacing and timing of their birth.

What
is family planning?

According
to WHO, family planning is the process of deciding the numbers and spacing of
children through the use of contraceptives, abstinence, natural planning or
hormonal birth control. These decision may be influenced by external factors
such as marital situation, career consideration, financial ability to have
children.

What
is family planning service?

Family
planning services are defined as educational, comprehensive medical or social
activities which enables individuals including minors to determine freely the
numbers and spacing of their children and to select the means by which that may
be achieved.

Purpose for family planning

There are
several reasons for family planning but we will be discussing two main
purposes. They are;

v Maternal death

v Required resources

Maternal death: Poor management of pregnancy during the period of pregnancy can result
to complications during child delivery resulting to severe bleeding, obstructed
labour, contacting of sexually transmitted infections (STI) and also leading to
the death of mothers; young mothers face a high risk of complication and death
as a result of pregnancy.

To
improve maternal and child health, it is advisable:

i.
For
teenagers to get to the age of at least 18 years old before giving birth.

ii.
For a
woman to recover between pregnancies

iii.
For a
woman to have all her children before the age of forty to avoid danger in child
bearing.

Required
Resources: There are required resources to make sure that couples (man or
woman) who have the desire to have a child have the resources that are needed
in other to complete this goal. Some of the required resources include;

i.
Financial
standard

ii.
Environmental
factor

iii.
Time factor

iv.
Social factor

Factors to consider when planning a family

In planning a family, it is important to make certain factor in considerations
some of such factors include the following;

1. Health
status of couples: The health
status of the mother and father planning to raise children should be of great
concern. Caring for children is a demanding responsibility and children count
on parents for love, support and care.

2. It’s
a joint decision: When it
comes to family planning, it’s a joint decision between spouses, this is why it
is important to make an informed decision together either based on both of your
needs or feelings when making these choices.

3. Financial
factors: In planning a
family, it is important to be sure that you are financially stable and prepared
for children with all of the proper things they need throughout life e.g.
medical expenses, clothing, increased demand for money, diapers, toys, and
other necessities that children need to enjoy.

4. It requires
maturity: The need for family
planning by couples need a sense of maturity and should be ready to accept
responsibilities of parenthood. Couples should be ready to assume total
responsibilities of raising and caring for a family.

Methods

There are several methods through which family planning can be carried
out effectively. Some of such ways include:

i.
Use
of contraceptive therapies e.g.

ii.
Sexuality
education

iii.
Pre-conception
counseling and management

iv.
Infertility management

v.
Physical
protection and prevention e.g. use of condoms

Benefits of family planning

Family planning provides many benefits to mothers, children family and
even the family.

We will be discussing this in five (5) areas;

Mother

i.
Family
planning enables, mother to pursue additional education and participate in
public life including paid employment in non-family organization.

ii. It encourages spacing of pregnancies and can delay
pregnancies in young women who are at an increase risk of health problems and
death from early child bearing.

iii. Family planning helps her to enjoy sex more ok with
her partner.

iv. By reducing the rate of unintended pregnancies,
family planning helps her to reduce unsafe abortions.

v. Give more time for her family and own personal
advancement.

vi. Give enough time and opportunities to love and
provide attention to her husband and children.

vii. It enables her to regain her health status back to
normal after delivery.

The child

i.
It gives the child room to get all the
attention, security, love, education that he/she deserve.

ii.
It helps
to reduce infant mortality.

iii.
Healthy
mother produce or give birth to healthy children.

iv.
Few
children mean more food for each child.

The
father

i.
Family
planning helps to lighten the burdens and responsibilities in supporting his
family.

ii.
It
enables him to give his children basic needs e.g. food, shelter, education and
a better future.

iii.
Gives him
time to concentrate more on his family and his own personal advancement.

iv.
It also
helps him to enjoy sex more with his partner.

The family

i.
Family
planning helps in slowing down the population growth and it resulting negative
impacts on the economy, environment and developmental factor of the family.

ii.
It helps
to improve the economic well-being of the family.

iii.
It also
help the family to stay out of poverty and hardship, greater accumulation of
wealth, large income and higher level of education.

iv.
It
support the family in decision making to limit its size incase the need arises.

The
community/nation

i.
It reduce
the risk of unintended pregnancies among women living with HIV resulting in
fever infected babies and orphans in the society.

ii.
It
promote global security by reducing rapid population growth that can lead to
large numbers of young youths with no job leading to poverty and increase in
crime.

iii.
It reduces
the rate of teen pregnancies and its associated social cost. It impact on teen
parent the opportunity for education and career choices.

iv.
It
protects the environment from all form of misconduct and crime by reducing its
population growth.

Beneficiaries
of family planning

i.
Women of childbearing age: Women of childbearing age benefit from family
planning as it them to regain her health after delivery, gives enough
time and opportunity to love and provide attention to her husband and children,
Gives more time for her family and own personal advancement and when suffering
from an illness, gives enough time for treatment and recovery.

ii.
Men: Men benefit from family planning as it lightens the burden and
responsibility in supporting his family, enables him to give his children their
basic needs (food, shelter, education, and better future), gives him time for
his family and own personal advancement.

iii. Infertile couples. Infertile couple benefit from
family planning as gives them a broader sense relating to reproductive functions.
With family planning couples are better able to understand when pregnancy is
most likely to occur and when it is least likely to occur; better able to
understand how contraceptives affect women’s menstrual cycles and ovulation.

Conclusion

In
conclusion, it is advisable and healthier for the mother and the child to wait
at least 2 years after previous birth before attempting to conceive again (but
not more than five (5) years). After miscarriage or abortion, it is healthier
and advisable to wait for at least six (6) months.