FAMILY PLANNING

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Introduction

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In Nigeria, over 2 million abortion occurs yearly, 4 millions pregnancy are unplanned,all these can be curbed through the process of what is called family planning.

Family planning can simply be put as a process carried out which enables you to space your children and also controlling the amount of children you want to have. If you give birth to a son and you want to wait till 3 years before you have another child, will you stop having sex? No, not at all, all you will just do is family planning, or better still you already have 8 children,and you decide that you dont want to give birth again,you certainly cannot stop having sex,all you will just do is family planning.

Most people thinks family planning is for married people alone,of course not,family planning is not only for married people its also for:

1. Lovers who are co-habiting together
2. Sexually active people
3. Married but not ready to be a parent
4. Married couple who want to put a stop to child bearing

All these mentioned above also can go for family planning, so family planning is not for married people only.

IMPORTANCE OF FAMILY PLANNING

Why is family planning important,why do people need to go for family planning,below are some of the reasons family planning is important:

1. It prevent unwanted pregnancies

2. It prevent abortion rate

3. Some family planning method such as condome also prevent sexual transmitted disease

4. It prevents overpopulation

5. Fewer mouths to feed

6. Spacing can actually gives the mother time to prepare for another child while taking care of the one at home

7. Create time for couple to bond

CHOOSING FAMILY PLANNING METHOD

This is not a job for the wife alone,the husband also have a big role to play,when bothe couple or lovers has agreed to family planning,the next thing is for them to go see a doctor,the doctor wikl explain everything to them,the different kinds of method availble,and the wife will choose the one suitable for her.

Her husband must be of support for me during the whole period,encouraging her to take her drugs,following her to the hospital and all of that,atimes there might be mood swing,the husband must be loving and caring.

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FAMILY PLANNING METHOD

After knowing what family planning this,those that can go for family plannig,the next is methods of family planing

1. Barrier method
2. Chemical methods(Hormonal method)
3. Forever method
4. Natural method

1. Barrier method

Just like the name barrier means preventing,it prevent the sperm coming from the male reproductive system to come in contact with the egg,this method,the sperm is released but the sperm do not get to the egg to fertilize it

There are many types of barrier method,but the most common is the condom,and we have male and female condom,instead of the sperm getting into the vagina,it get into the condom
Condom is not only important for preventing pregnacy but can also prevent sexual transmitted disease such as hepatitis b,Hiv and so on.

Male condom

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Female condom

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MECHANISM OF ACTION

Male condom- first ensure your hand is washed properly,carefuly tear the pack,avoid tearing with your mouth to avoid the lubricant getting into your mouth,lubricant makes sexual intercourse easy,then at the ring side hold the condome and insert into the penis,the condome must fully cover the penis.its always adviceable to be swift with this,if not the man might loose interest

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Woman Condom

Image on how to wear condom

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ADVANTAGES OF CONDOM

i. It does not reduce sexual pleasure on both side
ii. it is very easy to use
iii. Its helpful in preventing unwanted pregnancy

DISADVANTAGE OF CONDOM

i. Condom are capable of tearing
ii. Cannot be used more than once

2. Chemical or Hormonal method

As the name implies it interfer with the hormones in the woman body,hormonal methods unlike the barrier methods that prevent the sperm from getting into the egg,hormonal methods prevents the woman from producing egg,there are different hormonal methods:
1.pills(drugs)
2.Injection
3.Contraceptive implant

Pills

Probably the woman choose pill method,after visting the doctor,the doctor will tell her how to use the drugs,when and probably before or after eating,the pills prevent the woman from getting pregnant.

However not all women can use pills depending on the test carried out on their body

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ADVANTAGE

i. woks accurately

DISADVANTAGE

i. Can be demanding
ii.Must be taken at the correct time
iii. Must not be skipped
iv.Can have side effect

Injections

Same as pill,the doctor choose a particular brand for the woman,however the woman prefers pills than injections because of the phobia for needle

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Contraceptic implant

Here,a small surgery is done on the woman right hand,this is carefully done by professional,a woman cannot get pregnant if this is placed on her right arm.

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ADVANTAGE OF CONTRACEPTIVE IMPLANT

i. Reduce the stress of going to the hospital daily
ii. Secretive
iii. Safe

DISADVANTAGE OF CONTRACEPTIVE IMPLANT

i. Any woman going to use this method must be certain he or she wont want a baby for the next 4-5,because once its implanted,it takes about 4 to 5 year to remove it

ii. Phobia for surgery

iii. Expensive

3. Forever method

This is a case where the womb is totally removed,this is mostly done in most iliterate homes,where the man insist on having more children,while the ones he has,he cannot take care of properly,this is mostly done without the husband permission,the woman secretly go to the doctor amd explain(probably a case where the couple already has 10 children and still wants more).

ADVANTAGE OF FOREVER METHOD

i. No fear of getting pregnant

DISADVANTAGE OF FOREVER METHOD

i. Even when the woman changes her mind,its not possible again
ii. Can lead to quarrel between the husband and wife,if he finds out

4. Natural Method

###Calendar method
This is when the couple decides to use calendar,checking when the woman is fertile,when she is ovulating

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ADVANTAGES OF CALENDAR METHOD

1. It does not have any side effect
2. It is completely natural

DISADVANTAGES OF CALENDAR METHOD

1.Its not too safe
2.Miscalculation can occur

WITHDRAWAL METHOD

This is the most common method,where the guy when about to release,will quicklu remove his dick from the woman's vagina

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ADVANTAGES OF WITHDRWAL METHOD

1. it does not have to do with any chemical methods

###DISADVANTAGE OF WITHDRAWAL METHOD

1. Vey unsafe

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CLOSING REMARK

Family is a very beautiful thing most especially if its blessed with children,however spacing childen is also very important as it gives the family time to take care of the baby at hand,face work seriously,and have enough time to bond.

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Reference

• hesperian.org

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