“Family planning is a way of thinking and living that is adopted voluntarily upon the basis of knowledge, attitude and responsible decision by individuals and couples in order to promote the health and welfare of the family group and this contribute effectively to the social development of a country. “WHO (1971)

1. lanning

2. • Family planning is a
basic human right. It
was recognized by the
u n i t e d n a t i o n i n
1968.The government
of Nepal had included
family planning in its
national plan in 1966.

3. • T h e f a m i l y p l a n n i n g
movement started in Nepal
in 1959.Family planning was
f o r m e d u n d e r N e p a l
Medical association. The
family planning association
became an associated
member of international
p l a n n e d p a r e n t h o o d
federation (IPPF) in 1959.

4. Introduction(cont.)
• The association’s main activity was directed to the
field of communication to make people aware of
t h e c o n c e p t o f f a m i l y p l a n n i n g . T h e
implementation of family planning programme
was found to be necessary not only to safeguard
the health and welfare of the mother and child,
indeed the whole family, but also to bring
equilibrium between the population growth and
economic output of the country.

7. Family planning

8. Definition
• “Family planning is a way of thinking and living
that is adopted voluntarily upon the basis of
knowledge, attitude and responsible decision by
individuals and couples in order to promote the
health and welfare of the family group and this
contribute effectively to the social development
of a country. “WHO (1971)

9. Definition Cont……
• Family planning refers to practices that help
individuals and couples attain certain objectives
• To avoid unwanted births
• To bring about wanted birth
• To regulate interval between pregnancies.
• To control the time at which birth occur in
relation to the ages of the parent.
• To determine the number of children in the family.

10. Family planning

11. Purposes of family planning
• Avoid unwanted birth
• Bring about wanted birth
• Regulate the intervals between pregnancies
• Control the time at which birth occurs in
relation to the ages of the parent
• Determine the number of children in the
family.

12. Terms related to family planning
• Contraceptives:
• It indicates all measures temporary and
permanent designed to prevent pregnancy due
to coital act

14. Terms cont…..
• Eligible couple:
• An eligible couple refers
to currently married
couple where in the
wife is in the
reproductive age which
is generally assumed to
lie between the ages of
15-45 yrs, who will be
needing family planning
services.

15. Terms cont…
• Target couple:
It means a couple who have
2-3 living children and
family planning was largely
directed to such couple.
Now it includes families
with one child or even
newly married couple

16. Health aspect of family planning
• Family planning and health have a two-way
relationship. The principal health outcome of
family planning were listed and discussed by the
WHO scientific group on the Health aspect of
family planning. These can be summarized in the
following heading:
ØWomen’s health
ØFetal health
ØInfant and child health
ØWomen’s empowerment

17. Women’s health
• Woman’s health Comprise of
ØMaternal mortality and
ØMaternal morbidity of child bearing age.
ØNutritional status (hemoglobin level, weight
changes)
ØPreventable complications of pregnancy and
abortion

18. cont
• Pregnancy can mean a serious problem for many
woman. It may change or endanger her life. In
developing countries, the risk of dying as a result
of pregnancy is 10 -20 times greater than in
developed countries.
• The risk increases as the mother grows older and
after she has had 3 or more children.

19. Cont.

20. Women’s health continue….
• Family planning
intervenes women’s
reproductive cycle
• And helps to control
number, interval,
timing of pregnancy
• Thereby reduces
maternal mortality
and morbidity
improving health

21. Women’s health Cont…..
• The health impact of Family
planning occurs primarily
through:
ØAvoidance of unwanted
pregnancies
ØLimiting the number of
births and proper spacing
ØTiming of births particularly,
the first and last in relation
to the age of the mother .

22. Cont.
i) Avoidance of unwanted pregnancies:
The essential aim of family planning is to prevent
unwanted pregnancies. Unwanted pregnancies
may lead to an induced abortion. From the point
of view of health, abortion outside the medical
setti ng i s o ne o f the mo st d a n ge ro u s
consequence of unwanted pregnancies.
Particularly mention must be made of the
unmarried mother who faces significantly higher
health risks.

23. • There is also a higher incidence of mental
disturbances among mothers who have had
unwanted pregnancies.
ii) Limiting the number of the birth and
proper spacing:
Repeated pregnancy increases the risk of the
maternal mortality and morbidity. The risks rise
with each pregnancy beyond the third, and
increase significantly with each pregnancy
beyond fifth.
cont

24. Cont.
• The incidence of rupture of the uterus and
uterine atony, eclampsia increases with high
parity. Anaemia, placenta previa are common in
the mothers of many children. The rate of still
births tend to increase significantly with high
parity. The family planning is only one way to
limit the size and control the interval between
births with a view to improving the health of the
mother.

25. Cont.
iii) Timing of births:
Generally mother face greater risk of dying
below the age of 20 yr and above the age of 30-
35 years . In many countries, complications of
pregnancy and delivery show the same pattern
of risk, with highest below 20 and over 35 years
of age.

26. Fetal health
• A number of congenital anomalies e.g. down
syndrome are associated with the advancing
maternal age. Such congenital anomalies can be
avoided by timing of birth in relation to the age of
the mother’s age. Further, the “quality” of
population can be improved only by avoiding
completely unwanted births.

27. Cont.
• Low birth weight infants, resulting from
premature birth or inadequate fetal nutrition are
less likely to grow well, more likely to fall ill and
four times more likely to die in first year of life
than babies of normal weight. So family planning
encouraged the couple spacing the pregnancies
more than 2 years apart.

28. Infant and child health
• Comprises of neonatal, infant
and child mortality, birth
weight of neonates,
vulnerability to diseases.
• Family planning yields
following benefits:
ØReduction of child mortality
ØProper child growth and
development
ØPrevention of infectious
diseases
ØIntelligence

29. Infant and child health
• Issues relating to family planning are highly
relevant to pediatrics. It would seem that
family size and birth spacing, if practiced by
all, will yield substantial child health benefits.
These are: a) child mortality : It is well known
that the child mortality increases when
pregnancies occur in rapid succession.

30. cont
• A birth interval of 2 to 3 years is considered
desirable to reduce child mortality. Family
planning is therefore an important means of
insuring the survival of all children in a family.
• b)Child growth ,development and nutrition: Birth
spacing and family size are important factors in
child growth and development. The child is likely
to receive his full share of love and care including
nutrition he needs when his family size small and
births are properly spaced.

31. Cont.
• Family planning is effective for prevention of
malnutrition.
c) Infectious diseases: Children living in large sized
families have an increase in infection, especially
infectious gastroenteritis, respiratory and skin
infections.
d) Intelligence: Studies have shown that a lower IQ
scores among children from large families.

32. Cont.

33. Population problem and need for
family planning in Nepal
• Problems: At the national level, total fertility
rate has started to decrease. But the total
fertility rate in the rural areas is higher than
that of the urban areas.

34. Women’s empowerment
• The Oxford American
Dictionary defines
"empowerment" as "to
make (someone) stronger
and more confident, esp. in
controlling their life and
claiming their rights.“
• It means to give women
power and help them face
the challenges of being a
woman in society.
• Women's empowerment is
giving more of a leadership
role to women.

35. Social influence of family planning
• Economic aspects
• Political aspects
• Environmental
aspects
• Religious aspects

36. Any questions??

37. ASSIGNMENT
List out the methods of
family planning.