Family planning is the planning of when to have children, and the use of birth control and

other techniques to implement such plans. Other techniques commonly used include
sexuality education, prevention and management of sexually transmitted infections, pre-
conception counseling and management, and infertility management.

Family planning is sometimes used as a synonym for the use of birth control, though it often
includes more. It is most usually applied to a female-male couple who wish to limit the
number of children they have and/or to control the timing of pregnancy (also known as
spacing children). Family planning may encompass sterilization, as well as pregnancy
termination.

Family planning services are defined as "educational, comprehensive medical or social

activities which enable individuals, including minors, to determine freely the number and
spacing of their children and to select the means by which this may be achieved."

Purposes

Raising a child requires significant amounts of resources: time, social, financial,

environmental. Planning can help assure that resources are available.

Health

Waiting until the mother is at least 18 years old before trying to have children improves
maternal and child health. Also, if additional children are desired after a child is born; it is
healthier for the mother and the child to wait at least 2 years after the previous birth before
attempting to conceive (but not more than 5 years). After a miscarriage or abortion, it is
healthier to wait at least 6 months.

Policies

China
• China's one-child policy forces couples to have no more than one child. China's
population policy has been credited with a very significant slowing of China's
population growth which had been higher before the policy was implemented. It has
come under criticism that the implementation of the policy has involved forced
abortions and forced sterilization. However, while the punishment of "unplanned"
pregnancy is a fine, both forced abortion and forced sterilization can be charged with
intentional assault, which is punished with up to 10 years' imprisonment.

Hong Kong
• In Hong Kong, the Eugenics League was found in 1936, which became The Family
Planning Association of Hong Kong in 1950. The organization provides family
planning advice, sex education, birth control services to the general public of Hong
Kong. In the 1970s, due to the rapidly rising population, it launched the "Two is
Enough" campaign, which reduced the general birth rate through educational means.
The Family Planning Association of Hong Kong, Hong Kong's national family planning
association, founded the International Planned Parenthood Federation with its
counterparts in seven other countries.

United States
• Title X of the Public Health Service Act, is a US government program dedicated to
providing family planning services for those in need. But funding for Title X as a
percentage of total public funding to family planning client services has steadily
declined from 44% of total expenditures in 1980 to 12% in 2006. Medicaid has
 increased from 20% to 71% in the same time. In 2006, Medicaid contributed $1.3
billion to public family planning.

Natural family planning (NFP) is a term referring to the family planning methods
approved by the Roman Catholic Church. In accordance with the requirements for sexual
behavior in keeping with the dignity of the human person, as maintained by the church, NFP
excludes the use of other methods of birth control.
Periodic abstinence and the natural infertility caused by breastfeeding are the only methods
deemed moral by the Church for avoiding pregnancy. When used to avoid pregnancy, NFP
limits sexual intercourse to naturally infertile periods: portions of the menstrual cycle, during
pregnancy, or after menopause. Various methods may be used to identify whether a woman
is likely to be fertile; this information may be used in attempts to either avoid or achieve
pregnancy.

Natural Family Planning Methods

Natural family planning is normally chosen by people owing to certain religious reasons or
because they are not able to take contraceptives due to health reasons. The best thing
about natural methods of avoiding pregnancy is that they do not have any negative effects;
however, to follow this method couples have to be determined and disciplined.

There are three main types of NFP: the symptoms-based methods, the calendar-based
methods, and the breastfeeding or lactational amenorrhea method. Symptoms-based
methods rely on biological signs of fertility, while calendar-based methods estimate the
likelihood of fertility based on the length of past menstrual cycles. According to the Couple
to Couple League, "the fact that some methods of NFP can be 99% effective in the
avoidance of pregnancy seems unknown to most of the general public-including many
health care professionals." Clinical studies by the Guttmacher Institute, semi-autonomous
division of The Planned Parenthood, instead, showed a much lower efficacy, with 25.3% of
failures in typical use condition.

Abstinence: One of the most effective ways of natural family planning is abstinence. Couples
who do not want to have a baby and want to avoid taking artificial contraceptives, should
keep away from sexual intercourse during the fertile days of the woman. For this method to
work out, the women should keep track of their menstrual cycles to know the timing of their
ovulation and the period during when there is high risk of getting pregnant.

Withdrawal: Withdrawal is another method of natural pregnancy prevention. In this method,

the man withdraws his penis from the vagina before ejaculation while having sex. However,
this is not a full proof method of birth control, as the fluid secreted before ejaculation also
contains sperms and would also be sufficient to fertilize an ovum.

Symptoms-based

Some methods of NFP track biological signs of fertility. When used outside of the Catholic
concept of NFP, these methods are often referred to simply as fertility awareness-based
methods rather than NFP. The three primary signs of a woman's fertility are her basal body
temperature, her cervical mucus, and her cervical position. Computerized fertility monitors
may track basal body temperatures, hormonal levels in urine, changes in electrical
resistance of a woman's saliva or a mixture of these symptoms.
From these symptoms, a woman can learn to assess her fertility without use of a
computerized device. Some systems use only cervical mucus to determine fertility. Two
well-known mucus-only methods are the Billings ovulation method and the Creighton Model
FertilityCare System. If two or more signs are tracked, the method is referred to as a
symptothermal method. Two popular symptothermal systems are taught by the Couple to
Couple League and the Fertility Awareness Method (FAM) taught by Toni Weschler.

In Canada, the symptothermal method is taught by SERENA Canada which is an inter-

denominational organization which has been developing the Symptothermal Method as a
part of NFP since 1955. They are also not specifically affiliated with the Roman Catholic
Church.

Calendar-based methods determine fertility based on a record of the length of previous

menstrual cycles. They include the Rhythm Method and the Standard Days Method.

The lactational amenorrhea method (LAM) is a method of avoiding pregnancy based on

the natural postpartum infertility that occurs when a woman is amenorrheic and fully
breastfeeding. The rules of the method help a woman identify and possibly lengthen her
infertile period. A strict version of LAM is known as ecological breastfeeding.

Theology

Catholic doctrine holds that God created sexual intercourse to be both unitive and
procreative. This church considers deliberately altering fertility or the marital act with the
intention of preventing procreation to be sinful. Thus, artificial birth control methods are
forbidden, as are acts intended to end in orgasm outside the context of intercourse (e.g.
masturbation or oral sex that is not part of foreplay). At the same time, not having sex at all
(abstinence) is considered morally acceptable.
Having sex at an infertile time in a woman's life (such as pregnancy or post-menopause) is
also considered acceptable, since the infertile condition is considered to be created by God,
rather than as an act by the couple. Similarly, under Catholic theology, it may be morally
acceptable to abstain during the fertile part of the woman's menstrual cycle. Increasing the
postpartum infertile period through particular breastfeeding practices — the lactational
amenorrhea method — is also considered a natural and morally unobjectionable way to
space a family's children.

The Catholic Church acknowledges a potential benefit of spacing children and use of NFP for
this reason is tolerated. Humanae Vitae cites "physical, economic, psychological and social
conditions" as possibly compelling reasons to avoid pregnancy. Couples are warned,
however, against using NFP for selfish, immoral, or insincere reasons. A few Catholic
theologians argue that couples with several children may morally choose to avoid
pregnancy, even if their circumstances (emotional, physical, and economic) would allow for
more children. More commonly, Catholic sources extol the benefits children bring to their
parents, their siblings, and society in general, and encourage couples to have as many
children as their circumstances make practical.

Artificial Family Planning Methods

Condoms: Condoms are the most commonly used male contraceptive to escape pregnancy.
Using condoms during sexual intercourse acts like a barrier to keep sperm from entering the
vagina, thus restricting their contact with the egg. In recent times, even female condoms are
available in the market. Along with birth control, a condom also helps in the prevention of
sexually transmitted diseases. There have been cases where condoms have failed to avoid
pregnancy, but this is mostly due to defective condoms or incorrect use of the condom.

Birth Control and Emergency Pills: Another method of artificial family planning is the use
of birth control pills by women. Birth control pills also known as oral contraceptives, stop the
development of the egg and also helps in the thickening of the cervical mucus in the uterus,
thus restricting the passage of the sperms to the egg. This can be an effective method if the
pills are taken regularly and in the correct manner. If contraceptives do not work out,
another way of precluding pregnancy is to take emergency contraceptive pills. If a couple
has indulged in unsafe sex, the woman can take emergency pills to reduce the chances of
getting pregnant.

Intrauterine device (IUD): The IUD or Copper T as it is commonly known is a very

convenient, safe and reversible method of family planning which does not require a daily
routine. It is a small device made of metal, copper or plastic that is inserted into the uterus
of a woman of reproductive age, for as long as she does not want a pregnancy. Normally
once it is inserted, it stays in place for 5 to 10 years and inhibits the entry of sperms into the
inner recesses of the vagina and also prevents fertilization. It is the most popular and widely
used female contraceptive method. The IUD should be inserted and removed (when
pregnancy is desired) by a qualified medical practitioner, to avoid complications.

Sterilization: refers to permanent contraception by surgical procedures, to avoid future

pregnancies. It is a method of birth control suited for couples who do not want to have any
more children or couples who don't want to have even a single child. Vasectomy is the
procedure for men and tubectomy or tubal ligation for women. It is by far the safest and
most effective method of pregnancy control, though irreversible. Sterilizing is done
permanently and is a full proof method.

Artificial family planning methods, like IUDs or contraceptives to postpone or avoid a

pregnancy are effective, if used in the correct manner. However, these methods can cause
certain side effects, especially oral contraceptives. Women who take birth control pills may
experience nausea, weight gain, vomiting, ectopic pregnancy, etc. Regular use of
contraceptive pills may also make conception difficult, if couples want to have a baby later.
Sometimes over use of birth control pills can lead to infertility in women. One of the
problems with condoms is that they are made of latex and people who have latex allergy are
not able to use them.

Any method of family planning be it natural or artificial, does not affect the sex life of the
couple. However, no method is full proof and there have been rare cases where women have
become pregnant even after using contraception. So, the best way would be consult one's
gynecologist for the appropriate family planning method to stay away from a pregnancy that
is undesirable.
WRITTEN
REPORT:
FAMILY
PLANNING
ETHICS II
Submitted by:

Ralph Kervie Stephen B. Chan

BSN 3A

Submitted to:

Ms. Geraldine Vidal, RN