The Most Effective Family Planning Method- You Should Know

‘A Family of Four with Planning and Preparations makes a HAPPY FAMILY.’

A family is a group of people that enables fulfillment of each other’s aspirations through the provision of all aspects of social, emotional, financial, and psychological support within acceptable rules, traditions, and beliefs of the society where they live. It even has its forms starting from smallest till it includes everything as:

• The lowest form of family is which includes parents, children their spouses & off springs.
• This group then aggregates into a bigger set including cousins, in-laws and relatives.
• Further aggregation results in community /society spread across geographical locations to form a nation of citizens.
• Finally, it includes every living being on the planet – animals, birds, citizens, flora n fauna & other forms of nature.

Hence it is imperative that to ensure continuance & improvement of the global fabric, every member of the society must undertake & follow family planning.

What is family planning?

Family planning implies that a couple discusses when and how many children they can have so that they can give the utmost care to the child. While all living beings follow the natural laws of family planning, it is the human race that needs a reminder from time to time about this aspect and ensures to follow it. Since with limited resources, every person goes through a specific life cycle, the head of the family is in charge to be fair in its distribution & usage, family planning becomes necessary.

The normal lifespan of a person is 80 years distributed as follows:

• 15 years of dependence,
• 15 years of independence,
• 35 years of taking care,
• 10 years of partial independence
• 5 years of total dependence

Thus, any person has control over himself & his/her life for only 50 years. During this period, he must ensure the creation of the next generation, their maintenance up to they become independent, and finally make provision for stability over 15 years.

Importance of Family planning:

Family Planning is not only done to avoid the imminent disaster of overpopulation but also for the wellbeing of mothers since it avoids unnecessary abortions and helps in the reduction of the number of times a woman gives birth. The risk towards maternal health increases with every pregnancy, in the first place, it is better to avoid unnecessary pregnancy. Family Planning would also enhance the health of the baby that is born since a healthy mother would give birth to a healthy child. So, it is high time for us to put in place the concept of family planning in our lives and get some fruitful results. It plays an important role in the sustainable use of resources with limited availability.

Family planning methods:

Any contraceptive method opted by men or women will help them in planning their family and in preventing unplanned pregnancy. They need to know that if they are having sex and do not use a contraceptive method, about 8 of every 10 women will become pregnant during the next 12 months. It is seen that different people accept different kinds of things from contraceptive methods. Some want such a method that spares no chance of getting pregnant. Some want to come back soon to fertility so that they can get pregnant after stopping a contraceptive method. Some people have sex without thinking of any kind of contraceptive method. Even some women forget to take a daily pill, while others find consuming those pills easy. So, one must take into consideration some of the methods of family planning such as:

• Contraceptive methods are methods that include oral contraceptive pills, injectables, and implants. They stop a woman’s ovaries from releasing eggs and abstain from getting pregnant.
• Other is hormonal methods with one or two female sex hormones which are like the hormones produced in a woman’s body.
• If you prefer oral contraceptive pills, then one must take them daily. They work when no pills are missed, the pill is taken at the same time every day, and every new pack of pills is started without any delay.
• The Injectable contraceptives are given with the help of injections inserted into a woman’s arm or buttocks once every 1, 2, or 3 months, depending on what type of injectable it is. Injectable can be most effective if women remember to come for re-injection.
• Contraceptive implants are the method in which the implant is inserted under the skin of a woman’s upper arm which provides continuous and effective pregnancy protection for 3 to 5 years, depending on the type of implant. When this time is over, new implants are inserted when the old set is removed.
• Emergency contraceptive pills (ECPs) help in preventing pregnancy if taken within 5 days after having unprotected sex. They are only effective when taken in time or as soon as possible after sex. They are NOT used for ongoing contraception or in the place of a regular method.
• Intrauterine contraceptive devices (IUDs or IUCDs) are small, flexible plastic devices that are inserted into the woman’s uterus. The most common IUDs contain copper, and they prevent the sperms from reaching the egg produced in women’s ovary. IUDs can provide protection for 5 to 12 years, but it depends on the type of IUD used.
• Barrier methods are either devices (male and female Condoms) that block sperm from reaching an egg, or chemicals (spermicides) which kill or damage the entered in the vagina. The effectiveness of barrier methods depends on how they’re used every time during sexual intercourse.
• In Fertility awareness methods a couple need to know the fertile days of the woman’s menstrual cycle or the days when the woman is most likely to get pregnant. The couple must avoid sex or use a barrier method during these fertile days to prevent pregnancy.
• Breastfeeding can also provide contraceptive protection for the first 6 months after delivery if certain conditions are met. This method is known as Lactational Amenorrhea Method or LAM.
• In the method of withdrawal, man withdraws his penis from vagina during sex and releases his ejaculate which contains sperm, outside the woman’s vagina. Withdrawal is one of the least effective contraceptive methods for most people because it can still lead to pregnancy.
• The permanent methods of contraception are female and male sterilization. Sterilization is performed by a simple surgical procedure that provides life-long protection against pregnancy. It is appropriate for those men and women who are done with having children and they do not want more children in future.

Advantages of family planning:

Each thing has its own advantage; family planning is important and very efficient in today’s world seeing today’s world situation, some can be categorized as:

• Maternal health and child survival: Women and their children can be benefitted by avoiding pregnancy too early, too late, or too often. Meeting the need for contraceptives would further reduce global rates of maternal mortality by 35%, and a three-year gap between births in developing countries would further lower rates of infant mortality by 24% and rates of child mortality by 35%. (World Population Day—Six Reasons to Support Family Planning | Guttmacher Institute)

• Reduces the number of abortions, especially unsafe abortion: Minimizing the gap in the unmet need for contraceptives would further reduce the number of abortions worldwide by 64% each year. Most of the done in developing countries are unsafe, and less unsafe abortions would lead to fewer maternal deaths and injuries.

• Prevents sexually transmitted infections (STIs), including HIV/AIDS: The improved availability of condoms for both male and female reduces the rate at which STIs, including HIV, are transmitted. Moreover, HIV-positive women are better able to avert unplanned pregnancies and births; they are also helping in the reduction of the rate of new HIV infections to a good extent.

• Empowers women: Women can take better advantage of educational and economic opportunities, if they are able to control the number and timing of their children and will improve their own future and that of their families.

• Promotes social and economic development and security: The economic development of poor countries is hampered by large population growth as their expanding populations compete for limited resources such as food, housing, schools and jobs. Rapid and unsustainable population growth furnishes unstable societies and can lead to greater civil unrest.

• Protecting the environment: If many women worldwide will go for fewer children than their mothers did, it will increase their access to voluntary family planning which will further slow population growth rates. Rapid Population growth exacerbates environmental degradation and shears the world’s resources.

So, Ideal family planning includes contemplation in the timing of the marriage, the number and spacing of children, and when the first and last births will occur. A discussion was required between the couple about sexuality, contraception, and other long-range plans such as schooling, or work plans for better family planning. Family planning must be an important part of the modern lifestyle. Individuals should take on this responsibility of family planning otherwise there is always the potential that the government will come forward at a time for this.