Family planning involves deciding when to have children and how many, and taking the necessary steps to achieve those goals. Factors that affect family planning include the family's financial situation, health considerations, age of the parents and many others. Family planning resources include public advisory groups, government health departments and religion-based groups, all of which might have different perspectives on the use of birth control methods and other reproductive issues.
Promotes Smart Planning
The chief advantage of family planning is that it helps people organize their lives so that children are not thought of as difficult burdens but, instead, welcome additions. Family planning helps people prepare themselves for the responsibilities that having children entails. For example, a family planning resource may educate the public about the average costs of child-rearing or the difficulties that teenage parents face.
Helps Prevent Unplanned Pregnancies
Family planning also helps prevent undesirable situations. For example, birth control is an important part of family planning. If a young couple decides that their current finances cannot support the cost of a child, they can use birth control to prevent an accidental pregnancy. Family planning resources provide advice and information about a variety of birth control methods, including abstinence, birth control pills, condoms, diaphragms, natural birth-control techniques, vasectomies and many more.
Helps in Emergency Situations
Some women opt to abort a pregnancy due to health, financial or personal considerations. Certain family-planning resources provide abortions, as well as give advice on contraception, sexually transmitted diseases and other issues related to sex and reproduction. Women in need of advice, support or medical care rely on the services these family-planning resources provide. Other types of family-planning resources may focus on educating women about alternatives to abortion, such as giving up the baby for adoption.
Gives Pregnancy Advice
When people decide that the time is right to have a baby, family planning resources help them achieve their goal in the healthiest way possible. For example, family planning resources may advise women on the health effects of pregnancies and educate them about the dangers of certain activities, such as smoking or drinking while pregnant. Family planning resources also advise women on proper nutrition during a pregnancy, how to find prenatal care and other issues of pregnancy and childbirth.
Improves Community Health
Family planning offers many large-scale public health benefits, including decreasing high-risk pregnancies, increasing awareness of HIV/AIDS, reducing abortions and stabilizing population growth, according to the U.S. Agency for International Development.
