Nowadays, after successful delivery of a new born baby, it has become an essential part of hospital routine to counsel the newly born parents, especially the first time parents on the need to adopt a suitable family planning mechanism, the newly born parents will be introduced to various types of family planning mechanism, stating the advantages and disadvantages of adopting any of them.

However, this idea is common in state hospitals in my country to be specific unlike its private counterparts in the same country, even at the state hospitals they don't compel anyone to participate in the program, the newly born parents are free to decide on either to participate once, twice or to participate throughout the program and one may decide not to participate at all, in the case of the later, the only source of getting information related to family planning is either through experience or through online platform like Hive and some may not care to know about it due to nonchalant attitude or as the case may be.

Image source from Pixabay

Family planning which simply refers to an act or a means whereby couples will be able to achieve their desired number of kids and have a total control of the space in between their children's births, has long been in existence before the advent of today's family planning mechanism. However the effectiveness may not be the same as the later is ranked to be better and reliable than the former.

Generally, family planning consists of both Natural family planning which may also be referred to as traditional family planing and Modern family planning.

Natural Family Planning

Just like the name suggests, natural, it has been in existence as the nature itself, it can be referred to as any method which does not involve the use of pills or any of today's birth control devices. Some of the methods used include: Rhythm method, Symptothermal method, Coitus interruptus or withdrawal method and frequent and exclusive breastfeeding of the infant during the first six (6) months after child delivery.

Advantages

• Natural family planning costs nothing than to be attentive and careful while adopting any of its methods.
• It leaves no impact on one's body, i.e. there is no side effect
• It is in conjunction with most religious doctrine
• It can easily be administered once learned. i.e. there is no need to be booking an appointment with a medical practitioners.

Disadvantages

• It is risky, for instance, only a careful and vigilant person can adopt withdrawal method and any failure may result to pregnancy.
• Some of the methods used in natural family planning demands for keeping track of one's body, also to keep track of body system is not an easy task.
• There is no uniformity in the system, for instance, while exclusive breastfeeding may be guarantee for some mothers, it may fail for others.

Modern Family Planning

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Modern family planning is concerned with the use of artificial mechanism to prevent pregnancy in totality or to control space between their children's birth.

Some of the mechanisms use in modern family planning are: condoms, implants, injectables, oral contraceptive pills, vaginal rings, lactational amenorrhea methods, patches, fertility awareness based methods, male and female sterilization, and Intra uterine devices e.t.c. Just like there is no technology that has advantage and leaves no disadvantage, modern family planning also has its own advantages and disadvantages based on the type being adopted.

Three (3) of the popular family planning methods that are recommended and mostly used across the state are discussed below

Condoms

Condom is of two types: Male and female condom, it is a wearable material that can be put on by both male and female to collect the drop of sperm during sex, it is usually get dispose after use, people prefer using it due to its reliability when it comes to pregnancy prevention and a good method to avoid sexually transmitted diseases (STDs), although it does not attain the peak of the sweetness that comes along with having direct sex, nevertheless it works well for its intended purpose and has no health implication, they are also cheap when compare to other modern family planning methods.

Its type include Latex, plastic, or lambskin, Lubricated, Spermicide-coated, and Textured condoms.

Exclusive Breastfeeding during the first six months

Exclusive breastfeeding is a method of ensuring the new born is fed with sufficient breast milk during the first six months after delivery, while this may work well for some people by preventing them from getting pregnant, it may not be good enough for some people and that is its disadvantage, especially when relying only on it as a means of family planning. It is not advisable, as such, there is always a need to combine other method along.

The use of contraceptive pill (Postinor)

The use of Postinor: An emergency contraceptive pill that is readily available within the country is one of the commonly used bill in the country and it has relatively low percentage of health risk.

Final Thought!

There are many family planning methods out there, including both natural and modern family planning methods, however, each of the method comes with advantages and leaves no disadvantages, thereby, it is advisable to always consult your doctor to determine which is the best for you and your body.

Are you married? if yes, which method are you using or found better than the discussed above

Thanks for being there always, your interaction matters a lot.

References

1. Rhythm method

2. Symptothermal method

3. Coitus interruptus or withdrawal method

4. frequent and exclusive breastfeeding

5. Getting pregnant during the early stage of breast feeding: Tandem Breastfeeding