N13 2nd Sem 21-22: Unmet Need and Practice of Family Planning

What is your opinion about the practice of family planning? Are you for it or against it?

Family planning, in my opinion, is a practice that must be lived out by couples and families because it provides many benefits that are helpful in pursuing a life of comfort and ease. The World Health Organization emphasized the ability of family planning to help families attain their desired number of children and the spacing between each pregnancy.

Family planning prevents unwanted pregnancies. When couples are aware of how many children they want, when they want these children, and how many years between each child will be, then they will be more prepared for it. Preparation means that they will most likely not have any unwanted pregnancies, which most of the time leads to unsafe abortion and HIV transmissions from mothers to child (World Health Organization, n.d.).

Family planning raises empowerment. Having the ability to plan one’s family, decide on what will work best for the family, and choosing when to have children is very empowering. It gives the ability to take control of one’s body and to have a grasp on the dynamics within a family. Couples will be able to decide with more control and knowledge on their financial and economic situations. Women will also have more say and opinion on when they want their body to go through the very dynamic and life-changing processes during pregnancy.

Family planning creates awareness. Being knowledgeable about family planning and the topics within it, including sex education, contraception, and responsible parenthood will increase awareness between individuals and among communities. With knowledge, people will be able to better decide on very vital aspects of their lives. They will have the information that they will need in making informed choices that will greatly affect their lives.

Family planning advocates for maternal and child health. Mothers will be more prepared for the process of childbearing if she will perform family planning. With family planning, a mother will not be too young or too old for pregnancy, and thus have a higher chance of having a healthy pregnancy. Moreover, a mother will be more cautious and aware of her environment and lifestyle in preparing for pregnancy. When a mother is careful and is mindful of what she eats, do, and surrounds herself with, she will have better pregnancy outcomes.

Indeed, family planning is important in ensuring a bright future not just for the child but more importantly for the family as one working and cohesive unit of the society.

2. Are you in favor of the Reproductive Health Law and its provisions? Elaborate your answer.

The Republic Act 10354 also known as the Responsible Parenthood and Reproductive Health Act of 2012 recognizes the right of all Filipinos to make informed decisions based on their religious convictions, ethics, cultural beliefs, and demands of responsible parenthood regarding their own reproductive health through education and information. I am in full support of this because it does not only advocates for informed decisions about one’s health but more importantly it advocates for responsible parenthood, which all the children born to this world deserves.

This act recognizes the right of spouses to have a family, right of children to assistance, right of a family to a living wage and income, and the right of families to participate in planning and implementation of policies. This also guarantees access to safe, legal, affordable, and quality healthcare.

To be more specific, here are some of the provisions that I completely agree with:

Section 3. a. Right to make free and informed decisions: This is vital in enabling couples and families to independently plan their own lives as a family unit in our society. When couples are able to make informed decisions, they will be more prepared for the consequences of these decisions and thus, prevent any unforeseen circumstances that might merit an increase in the rate of unwanted pregnancies.

Section 3. c. Effective and quality reproductive health care services must be given primacy: This will play a role in ensuring safe pregnancy, maternal and child health, safe delivery, and birth of healthy children.

Section 3. f. State shall promote programs to enable individuals to have the number of children they want, achieve equitable allocation of resources, ensure effective partnership, and conduct studies to analyze demographic trends: This provision will help mothers and parents in reaching out to resources that are available and affordable and will help the government in making policies for the betterment of maternal and child health.

Section 3. h. Respect preference and choice of family planning methods: This provisions respects the individual’s preference, religious beliefs, cultural practices, and conviction.

Section 3. j. Humane, compassionate, and nonjudgmental treatment to mothers after abortion: This ensures that despite abortion being illegal, mothers with complications arising from abortion will receive adequate care.

Indeed, this act is a testament to how every Filipino has the freedom and right to plan their own families and lives. This is helpful in promoting maternal and child health and in advocating for the well-being of families in our community.

References:

Contraception. (2019, December 10). World Health Organization. https://www.who.int/health-topics/contraception#tab=tab_1

Republic Act 10354: The Responsible Parenthood and Reproductive Health Act of 2012 | Philippine Commission on Women. (n.d.). Philippine Commission of Women. https://pcw.gov.ph/republic-act-10354/

World Population Day Six Reasons to Support Family Planning. (2016, December 6). Guttmacher Institute. https://www.guttmacher.org/article/2008/07/world-population-day-six-reasons-support-family-planning

Re: Unmet Need and Practice of Family Planning

by Frances Rei Reyes - Saturday, 26 February 2022, 11:05 PM

1. What do you think are the reasons of high unmet need of FP in the Philippines?
Family planning remains to be an important aspect of life. It provides readiness to families and raises empowerment between and among families. It prevents unwanted pregnancies and promotes maternal and child health (World Health Organization, n.d.). With its big significance, the high rate of unmet family planning needs in our country is greatly alarming.
In the Family Health Survey released by the Philippine Statistics Authority in 2012, the rate of unmet need for family planning in 2011 is at 19.3%. In 2017, the figure decreased a little to 17%, which is still a big portion of many married women in the reproductive age. The rate is even higher at the group of unmarried sexually women estimated to be 57%. That means one out of two unmarried women have unmet family planning needs. These statistics are alarming because it mirrors just how far we still have to go in our progress in raising awareness towards reproductive health and family planning.
In my opinion, a lot of factors play a role in the very high rate of unmet family planning needs in our country. Here are these factors:
* Insufficient sexual and family planning education. It is shown in statistics by the Philippine Statistic Authority that unmet family planning needs decrease with education. In the 2011 Family Health Survey, unmet needs are highest at 29.2% for married women with no education and is lowest for women with higher education at 17.6%. Through education, couples will be more aware of the different implications of pregnancy and having a child. They will be more aware of the consequences and effects of their actions and thus will be better equipped in making informed decisions.
* Outdated information of health workers. Nagai et al. (2019) acknowledges that frequently, providers are not always aware of modern contraceptive methods, thus they provide insufficient and/or out-of-date information to their clients. This plays a role in the lessened ability to educate clients who are in need of relevant information so that they can make better and informed decisions. Moreover, this study stated that women are often dissatisfied with their clinic visits because they are unable to talk address their concern of insufficient knowledge about their options.
* Expensive cost of contraception. Casterline et al. (n.d.) mentioned that the cost of contraception is one factor to high rates of unmet needs in family planning in our country. This can evidently be observed with the high costs of contraception that is not always afforded by all sexually active individuals. Despite knowing the need for contraception, many Filipinos are left with no choice but to not purchase a contraceptive because they are not financially able to. This is alarming because despite widespread education about reproductive health and family planning, the government should make policies so that contraception will be accessible and affordable to all.
* Social norm’s discouragement of use of contraception and talks about sexuality. Our country, remaining to be mostly Catholic, still has high prevalence of traditional thinking regarding sex and contraception. The Catholic Church itself considers contraception as intrinsically evil in itself. With this heavy belief imposed by religion, many believers in this faith are discouraged to use contraception. Talks about sex are also not raised within Catholic households. This is alarming because this factor greatly influences decisions of individuals.
Indeed, many factors play a role in the high unmet needs of family planning in our country. Making policies in bettering these circumstances will improve our standing regarding awareness and will overall improve the status of reproductive health and family planning in our country.

2. What are ways you can suggest to increase the practice of FP in the country? Give least 1-2 suggestions.
The practice of family planning is important in preparing families and mothers for child bearing, birth, and having children both physically, mentally, emotionally, and financially.
Here are ways that I can suggest to increase the practice of family planning:
* Raising awareness through online materials. Most people today are in social media platforms like Facebook and Twitter. With this reality. it is very easy to help spread correct, relevant, and timely information about the importance of family planning. Moreover, even as individuals, we can share posts that explain family planning, its aspects, benefits, and role in improving the lives of future families.
* Incorporating family planning into the curriculum. Education is one way that will help disseminate information about the importance of family planning. Incorporating it to the curriculum will make the youth aware at a young age about the importance of family planning in helping ensure a stable future for one’s won family. It will also open the minds of the youth to the consequences and implications of having children and how this will affect their lives in the future. Moreover, education the youth about family planning will encourage the use of safety methods like contraception and will help them prevent having unwanted pregnancies. It will also help in empowering young women to take control of their own reproductive health and well being.
* Improve accessibility to family planning method. Family planning will be possible through the method of different methods like contraception. It would be for the best interest of our country if our government will design rules and implement policies that will make contraceptives more accessible to people in order for them to translate their knowledge into practice. With contraception, couples will have more control of when they want to have a child. Moreover, contraception helps women take contrio of their own bodies.
* Destigmatize contraceptive use. Contraception has been a taboo for so long within many traditional Catholics in our country. Catholic families, which compose majority of families in the country, stigmatizes the use of contraception. This is an alarming reality in our country because different religions and cultures still find contraception as a thing that must not be used and talked about, when in reality, contraceptives are helpful in making families achieve stability in the long run through preparation and planning.

References:
Nagai M., Bellizzi S., Murray J., Kitong J., Cabral E.I., & Sobel H.L. (2019). Opportunities lost: Barriers to increasing the use of effective contraception in the Philippines. PLoS ONE 14(7): e0218187. https://doi.org/10.1371/journal.pone.0218187

BBC - Religions - Christianity: Contraception. (2020). BBC. https://www.bbc.co.uk/religion/religions/christianity/christianethics/contraception_1.shtml#:%7E:text=The%20Roman%20Catholic%20Church%20believes,pill%20or%20condoms%20in%20themselves.