Family Planning
Family Planning
Family planning is the consideration of the number of children a person wishes to have, including the choice to have no children, and the age at which they wish to have them. Things that may play a role on family planning decisions include marital situation, career or work considerations, financial situations. If sexually active, family planning may involve the use of contraception and other techniques to control the timing of reproduction.
Family planning has been of practice since the 16th century by the people of Djenné in West Africa, when physicians advised women to space their births at three-year intervals.[1] Others aspects of family planning aside from contraception include sex education,[2][3] prevention and management of sexually transmitted infections,[2] pre-conception counseling[2] and management, and infertility management.[4] Family planning, as defined by the United Nations and the World Health Organization, encompasses services leading up to conception. Abortion is not typically recommended as a primary method of family planning,[5] and access to contraception reduces the need for abortion.[6]
Family planning is sometimes used as a synonym or euphemism for access to and the use of contraception. However, it often involves methods and practices in addition to contraception. Additionally, many might wish to use contraception but are not necessarily planning a family (e.g., unmarried adolescents, young married couples delaying childbearing while building a career). Family planning has become a catch-all phrase for much of the work undertaken in this realm. However, contemporary notions of family planning tend to place a woman and her childbearing decisions at the center of the discussion, as notions of women’s empowerment and reproductive autonomy have gained traction in many parts of the world. It is usually applied to a female-male couple who wish to limit the number of children they have or control pregnancy timing (also known as spacing children).
Family planning has been shown to reduce teenage birth rates and birth rates for unmarried women