It’s never too late or too early to plan for your perfect family! Here’s how.

What is family planning?

You may wonder what family planning is. From the word itself, one can predict that it is something that incorporates planning within the context of the family. In fact, it is similar to how we plan our budget for efficient use of our allowance or how we plan a business or an organization for a better and effective operation. Family planning works exactly the same way! According to the United Nations Population Fund (UNFPA), family planning is "the information, means, and methods that provide choices for the parents to decide having the desired number of children and when to have them by using safe and effective modern methods” (2017). 

Family planning is important because it helps maintain the health and well-being of the parents and their children, including the family’s economic status. It is important to note, however, that family planning focuses on the autonomy of women, while “supporting the health and development of communities” (WHO, 2017) at the same time. Both factors should be taken into consideration to further reach the goal that family planning seeks to achieve.

What are the advantages of family planning?

Family planning provides multiple advantages to one’s family. Suggested by the World Health Organization (WHO), the following are the advantages that a family can experience by doing proper family planning.

1. A detailed family plan can prevent pregnancy-related health risks in women. Providing the chance for the mother to choose when to have a baby has a direct impact on her health and well-being. The spacing of pregnancies and the prevention of unintended pregnancies enable women to decrease the risk of health problems. Furthermore, it can reduce the need for unsafe abortion.

2. Family planning can reduce infant mortality. The reason is that family planning provides women a spacing of pregnancies and delay of pregnancy. It prevents closely spaced and ill-timed pregnancies and births giving the mother enough time to recover and regain health before bearing another child if the mother wishes to. 

3. Family planning empowers parents to have informed choices for their future. This further provides awareness of sexual and reproductive health and provides them enough time to have the opportunity to get better education; mainly, the women. Since family planning provides control over their life, inevitably resulting in a chance for women to take additional education, participate in public life, and allows parents to invest more on each child.

4. Lastly, family planning tends to slow the process of population growth. Giving the opportunity for parents to plan and rethink their future family plan that may possibly lead them to decide on a reasonable or rather appropriate family based on their financial and social status.

However, it is important to take note as well that not family planning will not necessarily result in the opposite of the advantages aforementioned (WHO, 2017).

What methods can we use to carry out family planning?

There are different ways to conduct family planning. Two of which are the most common ways: contraception and sex education or methods of preventing pregnancy as a result of sexual intercourse and sex education which is an encompassing activity between the parents, the youth, and their school that teaches the fundamentals of their reproductive systems, its functions, contraceptives, and their responsibility in pregnancy and birth control (Ajmera, 2017).

Do we need family planning in the Philippines?

Based on the current situation in the Philippines, women and men barely follow the methods of family planning resulting a lower rate of pregnancy prevention. Both Filipino men and women should be aware that the increase usage of various family planning methods would benefit their families and the country as a whole.

The following are the prospected benefits shown in both micro and macro levels, which the nation can experience from family planning. In a micro level, family planning delays or prevents pregnancies of young adults thus, increasing the overall health of the mother and the born child. During the delay, young mothers will be provided with more time for herself, which can then be used for getting further education. In the macro level, family planning prevents unplanned pregnancies, decreasing child mortality or abortion, and slowing down the overall population growth of the nation. Negative impacts such as the environmental problems and increase in poverty and hunger from over-population can be diminished (Konerman, n.d.).

In conclusion, family planning is an important practice to help not only the family but also the community. In that sense, one must know how to do proper family planning, and we are here to help you out! The following articles will discuss specific family planning methods for the viewers to take note of.

REFERENCES
Ajmera, R. (2017, August 14). What Is the Importance of Family Planning?. Retrieved September 14, 2017, from http://www.livestrong.com/article/72185-importance-family-planning/

Department of Health (DOH). (n.d.). What are the benefits of using family planning?. Retrieved September 14, 2017, from http://www.doh.gov.ph/node/1291

Konerman, T. (n.d.). What Are the Benefits of Family Planning in the Philippines? Retrieved September 14, 2017, from http://howtoadult.com/benefits-family-planning-philippines-5079741.html

UNFPA. (2017). Family planning. Retrieved September 14, 2017, from http://www.unfpa.org/family-planning

World Health Organization (WHO). (2017). Family planning/Contraception. Retrieved September 14, 2017, from http://www.who.int/mediacentre/factsheets/fs351/en/