Unmet Need and Practice of Family Planning

Unmet Need and Practice of Family Planning

Unmet Need and Practice of Family Planning

by Ma Abegail Aguila -
Number of replies: 0

 

1. What do you think are the reasons of high unmet need of FP in the Philippines?

Family planning allows people to determine the desired number of children and spacing of pregnancies. It is of importance to reduce maternal mortality, abortion due to unwanted pregnancy, poverty in connection with overpopulation, and the transmission of sexually transmitted infections. Despite these, there is still an alarmingly high prevalence of unmet need for family planning in the Philippines. Unmet needs of family planning was defined by Machiyma, et.al. (2017) as the discrepancy between expressed fertility preferences and practice of contraception – i.e., the failure to translate a stated desire to avoid pregnancy into pregnancy-prevention behavior. The high prevalence of unmet needs of family planning can be attributed to the following reasons:

  1. High cost of contraception - Despite the efforts to promote family planning, economic barriers still greatly contribute to the  high reluctance of sexually active individuals to practice the use of contraceptives. Those people that cannot afford the expensive cost of safe and effective contraceptive will have no other choice but to not  use one during sexual activity.
  2. Health concerns for contraceptives (e.g. the fear of side effects) - Hormones in contraceptives can induce some side effects to women such as breast tenderness, headaches, weight gain, lack of regular menstrual bleeding, nausea, and/or loss of bone density. While it is true that these can be uncomfortable, some misinformation about these side effects make it hard and doubtful for many women to even consider using one. A study conducted by Parks (2019) revealed that women believe that the temporary prevention of pregnancy with contraception can lead  to  permanent infertility with sustained use. They may also believe that lack of a monthly period signals a dangerous buildup of blood inside their bodies. Some believe that nausea caused by an oral contraceptive may be a sign that acid in the pill  is  burning their stomach or ovaries, while others believe that contraceptive pills may accumulate in some other body organ.
  3. Religious affiliations - The Catholic Church was very persistent in their opposition to  the Reproductive Health Law—claiming that the passing of the bill will result in the destruction of family, violation of life, exploitation of the poor, and the promotion of promiscuity among the youth. They believe that this law will violate the Natural Family Planning that is in line with the Humanae Vitae, a papal document by the late Pope Paul VI that bans family planning methods that interfere with the body’s natural rhythms. According to the late Pope, family planning should “take advantage of the natural cycles immanent in the reproductive system and engage in marital intercourse only during those times that are infertile.” The author of the bill opposed this idea as it is not inclusive (e.g. for women who have irregular periods, OFW workers who return periodically) (Rappler, 2012). This debate went for a long time– gaining support of different people on both ends.
  4. Insufficient family planning counseling - In a study by Nagai et.al. (2019), there is an occurrence of missed opportunities between healthcare workers and couples in providing family planning counseling. These are very prominent in far-flung areas where poverty is prevalent yet health care services are rare, thus, people receive insufficient education about family planning and insufficient health resources and access to contraceptives.

What are ways you can suggest to increase the practice of FP in the country? Give least 1-2 suggestions?

  1. Widen the reach of family planning counseling - Proper education about family planning should not only be limited to urban areas like Manila, but also to other far-flung areas with inadequate health centers and health care workers. The local officials in these areas should also procure and allocate enough supply of contraceptives while the national government should assist to meet these responsibilities by provision of enough resources and sufficient funds. These people should also receive the same amount of decision making opportunities as those in rural areas by providing a wide choice of methods and responding to their health concerns. 
  2. Remove the stigma on contraceptive use - Discussions about the use of contraceptives are indeed hard in a Catholic country like the Philippines. However, people must learn to accept that family planning can help maintain the stability of families through deliberate planning and open discussion between couples in order to fulfill their roles and responsibilities to their children. Removing the stigma also involves a open discussion and full acceptance of the society to the provisions of family planning. Users of social media shall initiate a healthy talk about family planning so others can slowly learn and accept its importance. It shall also be a way for a wider dissemination of truthful information as it will be available and accessible to many.
  3. Incorporation of sex education in school curriculum - Sex education shall provide the youth with truthful information about sex, sexuality, and bodily development. This is very important to this age of experimentation wherein the youth tends to explore sex, pleasure, etc.  The provision of sex education shall allow them to learn about safe sex, helps them to make informed decision about their reproductive health, and make them sexually responsible. In addition, it will also empower the youth with proper education about the risks of STDs, early and unintended pregnancies, gender-based violence, etc. 

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