Family planning
Regulation of childbearing through contraception, education, and health services.
Family planning is the consideration of the number of children a person wishes to have, including the choice to have no children, and the age at which they wish to have them. It encompasses services leading up to conception, including contraception, sex education, pre-conception counseling, infertility management, and abortion. Family planning is sometimes used as a synonym for access to contraception, but it often involves methods and practices beyond contraception. Factors influencing these decisions range from personal health and relationship status to career goals and financial circumstances. While the term is frequently associated with contraception, it also includes pre-conception care and infertility treatment. The introduction of combined oral contraceptives in 1960, commonly known as "the Pill," played an instrumental role in family planning for decades. Historically and currently, family planning has placed the majority of the burden and health risks on women in heterosexual relationships, despite male contraceptive options like condoms and vasectomies being increasingly accessible, lower risk, and more affordable. However, childbearing decisions increasingly center women, as notions of women’s empowerment and reproductive autonomy have gained traction. A distinction is sometimes made between "family planning" as couples’ attempts to regulate the number and spacing of births, and "family planning programs" as systematic, often government-sponsored efforts to provide information, supplies, and services for modern fertility control. Such programs, used by many developing countries between 1950 and 1995, have been controversial due to coercion in places like China, India, and Peru, though a World Bank Group report concluded that they substantially contributed to the rise of contraceptive use and fertility decline in the developing world. Increased access to condoms, contraceptives, and abortion has been shown to reduce teenage birth rates and birth rates for women generally.
- definition
- Consideration of number and spacing of children, including choice to have none
- key_organizations
- United Nations, World Health Organization, US Centers for Disease Control and Prevention
- related_terms
- Family planning program (government-sponsored systematic effort)
- primary_benefits
- Reduced maternal morbidity, fetal prematurity, low birth weight; economic savings
Lore & Background
Family planning, as defined by the United Nations and the World Health Organization, encompasses services leading up to conception, including contraception, sex education, pre-conception counseling, infertility management, and abortion. Historically and currently, notions of family planning place the majority of the burden and health risks on women in heterosexual relationships, despite male contraceptive options being increasingly accessible, lower risk, and more affordable. Childbearing decisions center women in the discussion, as notions of women's empowerment and reproductive autonomy have gained traction in many parts of the world.
Reader's Guide
Family planning is the consideration of the number of children a person wishes to have, including the choice to have none, and the age at which to have them. Decisions may be influenced by factors such as personal desire, health, relationship status, career, or finances. For sexually active individuals, it can involve condoms, contraception, and other techniques to control reproduction timing. Beyond contraception, family planning includes sex education, pre-conception counseling, and infertility management. The United Nations and World Health Organization define it as encompassing services leading up to conception, and abortion is also considered a form of family planning. The term is sometimes used as a synonym for contraception access, but it often covers additional methods and practices. Historically and currently, the burden and health risks of family planning have fallen predominantly on women in heterosexual relationships, despite male contraceptive options like condoms and vasectomies being increasingly accessible, lower risk, and more affordable. Childbearing decisions center women, as notions of women’s empowerment and reproductive autonomy have gained traction. Family planning is usually applied to female-male couples wishing to limit children or space births. Increased access to condoms, contraceptives, and abortion has been shown to reduce teenage birth rates and overall birth rates. A distinction is sometimes made between “family planning” as attempts by couples to regulate births and “family planning programs” as systematic, often government-sponsored efforts to provide information and services for fertility control. These programs, used by many developing countries between 1950 and 1995, have been controversial due to coercion in places like China, India, and Peru. A World Bank Group report concluded that such programs contributed substantially to the rise of contraceptive use and fertility decline in the developing world.
Did You Know?
- Family planning includes abortion as a form of family planning.
- Waiting at least two years (but not more than five) after a previous birth before attempting to conceive is healthier for mother and child.
- For every dollar invested in contraception, the cost of pregnancy-related care is reduced by $1.47.
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