Birth control techniques other than natural family planning/fertility awareness methods, or NFP/FAM, are sometimes called "artificial." These include hormonal contraceptives like the pill, intrauterine devices or IUDs; barrier methods like diaphragms and condoms; and male and female surgical sterilization. Only 3 percent to 6 percent of reproductive-age couples on Earth use any form of periodic abstinence from sex, and apparently in most cases not modern, scientifically based, effective NFP/FAM. Although NFP/FAM has its benefits, most of family planning's worldwide positive effects are clearly due to the so-called artificial methods.
Promotion of Human Right
"Artificial" methods expand people's family planning options greatly and thus empower them to exercise a basic human right. Starting with the 1968 United Nations International Conference on Human Rights in Tehran, voluntary family planning has been recognized and reaffirmed as a universal human right. It includes the freedom to use or not use a particular method.
Most people prefer "artificial" methods. For example, a woman might want to use a female condom or diaphragm because she feels it gives her personally the most control over whether or not she becomes pregnant. Couples who have completed their families might choose tubal ligation or vasectomy so they do not have to worry about pregnancy prevention again.
In addition, some women have medical issues that might conflict with NFP/FAM use. For example, they might need to take certain psychiatric, antibiotic, or anti-inflammatory drugs that throw off the timing of ovulation, alter cervical secretions, or affect body temperatures.
Improved Survival And Health
Artificial family planning methods in general help to reduce rates of abortion and miscarriage as well as maternal and infant mortality. In 2008, modern contraceptives prevented an estimated 112.3 million abortions and 21.9 million miscarriages, and saved the lives of 1.17 million newborns and 230,000 mothers globally, according to the United Nations Population Fund and the Guttmacher Institute.
Other health benefits are associated with particular methods. For example, female sterilization permanently protects many women with diabetes, heart disease, and other conditions against unintended high-risk pregnancies. Some oral contraceptives reduce women's risk for ovarian and endometrial cancers. Some IUDs assist in protecting against anemia from iron deficiency.
Perhaps the most dramatic and far-reaching health benefit of any artificial methods is the ability of male and female condoms to prevent sexually transmitted infections, including HIV. Across the world, in nations as different from one another as Brazil, Uganda and Thailand, condoms have been decisive in reducing new HIV infections on a large scale.
Social Welfare Gains
Contraceptive use has contributed to a variety of social welfare gains in many countries, according to the Guttmacher Institute and the United Nations Population Fund. Many of these advantages are difficult and complicated to measure.
However, one of the clearest benefits is the improvement of girls' educational prospects, even if different studies present different statistics. "Delaying first pregnancies helps girls complete their education, and reducing the size of families lessens the chances that girls will be kept at home to care for siblings," according to the UN Report. "Also, with fewer children, parents are better able to invest in each child's schooling, particularly in their daughters' education."
References
- Family Planning: A Global Handbook for Providers
- International Conference on Family Planning: Kampala 2009---Reaffirmation of Global Family Planning Commitments
- United Nations Economic and Social Affairs, Population Division: World Contraceptive Use 2009
- United Nations Population Fund (UNFPA) and the Guttmacher Institute: Adding It Up---The Costs and Benefits of Investing in Family Planning and Maternal and Newborn Health
