Family planning means deciding how many children to have and when to have them. Birth control is a cornerstone of the concept, and the terms can be synonymous, but some definitions also include treatment of involuntary infertility. Effective planning can have a major impact on the lives of would-be parents and on their communities.
Benefits
Family planning helps women to stay healthy and improves the outcomes of their pregnancies, according to EngenderHealth. The group estimates that a third of maternal deaths and illness could be avoided through access to modern contraceptive methods. Family planning can improve the economic position of families and communities and preserve natural resources, as well as safeguard individual rights.
Statistics
About 3 million of the 6 million pregnancies in the United States each year are unintended, according to the National Family Planning and Reproductive Health Association. Around the world, according to EngenderHealth, a non-profit organization that promotes reproductive health in poor communities, about 215 million women would like to avoid pregnancy but are not using contraception.
Considerations
Couples engaged in family planning should ask themselves key questions, according to the University of Iowa Hospitals and Clinics: How ready do they feel about the responsibility of raising a child, or another child? Are they ready financially? How will they manage conflicts that arise? Also, having another child within a year of the last one is difficult for a woman's body, which may have low vitamin and iron reserves. Too-close spacing increases the risk of miscarriage and premature births.
Types
The options for avoiding pregnancy include both temporary and permanent approaches. Barrier methods include condoms for men and the diaphragm for women, according to the National Center for Farmworker Health. Women can also use hormonal contraceptives including birth control pills, injections and implants. Permanent birth control options include the vasectomy for men and tubal ligation for women. For couples who want to have children but are experiencing trouble, fertility methods include medications and in vitro fertilization, along with adoption, according to MayoClinic.com.
Natural Planning
Easily confused with family planning is the term natural family planning. Natural family planning involves trying to determine when ovulation will occur and timing sexual intercourse to either achieve or avoid pregnancy, according to the American Academy of Family Physicians. Couples keep a chart to monitor changes in the woman's body, such as rising body temperature or thickenening of the cervical mucous, both of which suggest ovulation. As birth control, natural family planning can be 90 to 98 percent effective, according to the American Academy of Family Physicians, when practiced correctly.
