The Role of Family Planning in Global Healthcare

What is Family Planning?

Family planning refers to tools that help both women and couples decide when, how and if they want to have children. This may involve the use of contraception, such as birth control pills or condoms, or other techniques such as reproductive education. Family planning can also include management of sexually transmitted infections, and counseling related to both fertility and infertility. Family planning is a global healthcare issue that has the potential to protect women and children, stop the spread of disease, reduce abortions worldwide, manage the world’s population, and combat the spread of HIV/AIDS.

Using Contraception

Approximately 800 women die every day due to complications from pregnancy or childbirth. Research has indicated that more than 222 million women around the world have the desire to avoid or delay pregnancy, but are currently not using a viable form of contraception. Most of these women are in developing countries, where it is more difficult to access contraception – it may be unaffordable, socially unacceptable, or simply not available. In the United States, on the other hand, millions of women choose to use birth control in order to plan for their futures. In a survey of over 2,000 women, results indicated that 63% of women use contraception to take care of themselves and their families. Another 56% do it in order to remain financially secure. Others have education-related goals (51%) or career-related goals (50%) that they want to achieve without the worry of becoming pregnant. For women who already have children, taking care of the family they already have is one of the most important reasons to use contraception. Women in developing countries may also want to use contraception for similar reasons; however, most often it is accessibility or stigma that prevents them from doing so.

Benefits of Contraception

The benefits of contraception extend further than becoming pregnant versus not becoming pregnant. Contraception has the potential to improve the health of women, in some cases putting them at a lower risk of sexually transmitted infections. It can also improve women’s status in society by allowing them to participate fully in society by pursuing education and career goals. Families also benefit, where women who already have children are able to devote more time, energy and resources to raising them as opposed to having more children. For women who have more than one child, contraception also allows a woman to wait a sufficient amount of time between pregnancies, thereby protecting their children’s health. Contraception can also reduce the likelihood that a woman will have an abortion, which may lead to further health complications. On a more global scale, contraception can help to curb population growth and limit the decimation of natural resources and food supplies.

Saving Lives

It is estimated that 287,000 maternal deaths occur each year. Experts suggest that adequate family planning might actually prevent up to 30% of these deaths, by allowing women to space out or delay their pregnancies. Having babies three years apart has been shown to have the highest impact on both infant and maternal health; USAID, a United States organization that offers foreign aid, estimates that this could prevent the deaths of 1.6 million children under the age of five each year.

Family Planning & Empowerment

Family planning has the potential to empower women. This was evidenced in a report published in International Perspectives on Sexual and Reproductive Health, which assessed personal data from several countries in Africa and concluded that women who refer to themselves as “empowered” are more likely to also be using contraception. While this is not a directly causal relationship, it is an important association. Use of contraception may contribute to feelings of empowerment and empowerment may lead a woman to choose to use contraception.

Supporting Women

Promoting family planning is not only about preventing births. It is also about helping to empower women around the world to make their own choices. This means that women have the right to choose both to use contraception and to not use contraception if they so wish. The key lies in offering education and resources that can help women come to this decision by their own accord. Other factors, including education, economic stability, and literacy, also play into women’s empowerment. Access to contraception is just one of many goals in the struggle for equal women’s rights.