Family Planning: What You Need to Know

Family planning is an important achievement done by public health. Access to family planning services gives individuals and families a chance to achieve desired birth spacing and family size. Family planning also allows women, infants, children, and families to achieve optimal health.

Why is family planning important?

For several women, consulting a family planning clinic is their main entry point into the health care system and a part of the system they go to for usual medical care. Access to family planning services is important because childbirth that results from unintended pregnancies can entail negative consequences that range from congenital disabilities to complications with the mother’s health.

Children born from unintended pregnancies are also highly susceptible to going through poor mental and physical health care during their childhood, and they have low chances of getting optimal education.

With the number of aspects that can be affected if it weren’t for family planning, it’s fair to say that the championing of its services, which include contraception and abortion services, contributes to the welfare of families.

The importance of family planning also highlights how important it is for individuals and families alike to stay informed about what family planning is.

To give more insight into what it is, here are some important family planning facts you need to know:

1. 65 percent of women in the United States who are in the age of reproduction use contraceptives. However, none of those contraceptivesare at a 100 percent level of effectiveness.
2. In the US, birth control pills are the most popular type of reversible birth control.
3. Intrauterine devices (IUDs) and implanted contraceptives are more effective than birth control pills, the patch, and the ring by 20 times.
4. Gynecologists use IUDs more often compared to other women.
5. The over-the-counter morning-after pillcontaining the hormone called “levonorgestrel”is significantly less effective for overweight women and is not effective for women who are obese.
6. The first condomsthat were invented go as far as the year 1640. They were made of the gut of lambs and other animals. They were popular for a long time and can prevent pregnancy and provide a more intimate and natural feel. These condoms lost their popularity when latex condoms came into the market in the year 1920.
7. The only form of contraception effective against the transmission of sexually transmitted infections are latex condoms.
8. IUDs are proven safe and effective for women who haven’t conceived children in the past.
9. Copper IUD or Paragard is more than 99 percent effective in preventing pregnancy with usual use. To ensure effectiveness, it should be given within a 120-hour window after unprotected sexual intercourse. Paragard also provides highly effective contraception for the long term.
10. Birth control shots (Depo-Provera) is 94 percent effective for pregnancy prevention with consistent use. The birth control shot must be administered once every three months to maximize the effectiveness, and consistent use increases the effectiveness to more than 99 percent.
11. IUDs and implanted contraceptives are good pregnancy prevention methods for sexually active teenagers.
12. It’s perfectly normal not to regularly have a period if you’re using contraception that affects your hormones.
13. Prolonged use of birth control pills has been associated with decreasing chancesof ovarian and uterine cancer in women.
14. For women who experience heavy bleeding, hormonal IUD can help to reduce the bleeding significantly.
15. Miscarriages can be managed with safety. Medical office procedures prescribe medication and, sometimes, minimal anesthesia to lessen patients’ physical pain.

Meta Title: Important Family Planning Facts to Digest

Meta Description: Family planning is an important aspect of family and individual health. Being aware of the services available to us is crucial in proper planning.

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