Family planning is a couple's desire to plan and control how many children they have and when they have them. Planning for children, or the prevention of a pregnancy, can include natural, biological methods as well as synthetic or permanent solutions.
Natural Family Planning
Family planning deemed "natural" is a method of knowing your body so that you may increase the possibility of conception or prevent an unwanted pregnancy. Natural family planning works by limiting sexual intercourse during the time a woman is ovulating, lowering the chance of fertilization. In order for this type of planning to work, a woman needs to be aware of her ovulation cycle. Examples of natural family planning include the basal body temperature method in which a woman tracks her body temperature to find fluctuations that indicate fertility; the cervical mucus method, in which the woman takes note of changes in the vaginal mucus that indicate fertility; the symptothermal method, where symptoms such as cramping or changes in the cervix indicate fertility, and the calendar method, which uses a calendar to track ovulation and menstruation cycles.
Lactational Amenorrhea
According to the American Congress of Obstetricians and Gynecologists, hormone fluctuations can occur while a woman is breastfeeding, making ovulation temporarily recede. Breastfeeding women may prolong their breastfeeding, or feed frequently while they breastfeed, to keep ovulation from occurring and to prevent a pregnancy from occurring quickly after giving birth.
Synthetic Birth Control
Types of synthetic birth control are also available to help control conception and plan family size. Condoms are one of the most popular forms of synthetic birth control due to their low cost and widespread availability. The Mayo Clinic suggests that condoms are a good way of preventing pregnancy since they also prevent against the spread of sexually transmitted diseases and do not have the same side effects as birth control pills. Birth control pills work by introducing synthetic hormones into the body, preventing ovulation or by making implantation of a fertilized egg more difficult. A health care provider prescribes pills and many types are available to suit different bodies.
Sterilization
According to the Mayo Clinic, sterilization is an often permanent, yet very effective, form of natural family planning that prevents conception. Vasectomies for men include the cutting and sealing of the tubes that conduct semen through the penis. Women may decide to have their fallopian tubes cut and sealed or have them permanently blocked. This type of birth control method should be taken very seriously and not entered into lightly.
Religious Opposition to Family Planning
Throughout the early history of family planning and into the modern day, religious efforts have existed to prevent couples from attempting to plan or control their own reproduction. Two professors, Joseph Shenker and Vicki Rabenou at Hassadeh University in Isreal, found that in a history of cultural and religious perspectives on family planning, oppositions to birth control methods in Judaic religions were based on Biblical scripture encouraging childbearing. Other protests to family planning include that it prevents life from flourishing or that it disregards the purpose of marriage as God intended and created it.
