HOW TO PREVENT UNWANTED PREGNANCY (1)

HOW TO PREVENT UNWANTED PREGNANCY (1):

NATURAL METHODS.

INTRODUCTION

The high rate of teenage and unwanted pregnancies in Africa and all over the world is very disturbing; this is caused by many numerous factors which include the lack of adequate, safe and professional knowledge of how to prevent getting pregnant while enjoying sexual relations with the opposite sex.

This article is written to teach standard and safe family planning procedures while enlightening the readers about the general concept of family planning; it will also come in handy for clinicians and students of family planning in higher institutions.

DEFINITION

Family planning refers to methods available for adoption by consenting adult couples to help determine if they want to have children, the number of children, the spacing between them and the timing of their births.

It is beneficial to the mother, the father, the children and the society in many different ways.

BENEFITS

1.     It leads to a healthy and happy family.

2.     It gives the parents time for social activities.

3.     It makes the training of the children easy.

4.     It discourages social delinquencies.

5.     It reduces infant and maternal illness and death.

6.     It allows community to plan, manage recourses, grow and develop.

7.     It reduces teenage pregnancies and abortion.

FAMILY PLANNING METHODS

NATURAL FAMILY PLANNING METHODS

These are based on the ability to recognize certain physiologic changes associated with ovulation, these enables the couples to recognize fertile and infertile phases of the menstrual cycle, so that the couples can plan the time of intercourse according to their desire to achieve pregnancy and to avoid it.

Types

1.     The Basic Body Temperature Method

Take your temperature in the morning before getting out of bed and before eating or drinking anything or putting anything in your mouth.

Take temperature at the same time every morning.

Take temperature orally and leave thermometer for one minute.

Record the reading at the level the mercury stops.

If mercury stops in between two readings take the lower reading as your temperature

Record reading on temperature chart

Abstain from intercourse from the first day of your period until after the third consecutive day of rise of body temperature.

Do not use this method if you are breast feeding (temperature may not rise during this period).

2.     Calendar/Rhythm Method

Record the first day of each menstrual cycle for 6 - 12 months.

Determine the beginning of the fertile period by subtracting 18 days from the shortest cycle.

Determine the end of the fertile period by subtracting 11 days from the longest period.

If your longest period is 31 days and the shortest period is 23 days, your fertile period is from the 5^th to the 20^th day of your cycle, i.e 18 days.

Abstain from intercourse during this period every month.

If your period is irregular do not use this method of contraception, use spermicides or other barrier methods as well.

3.     The Cervical Mucus(Billings) Methods

Billing’s method is based on changes that take place in the quantity and the quality of the cervical mucus during the menstrual cycle. Prior to the ovulation the mucus is thick; at ovulation the mucus becomes thin, clear, plenty in amount and watery. It is easily stretched out between the fingers, like egg white. After ovulation it becomes thick again and does not flow.

Abstain from intercourse during the menstrual cycle.

Feel the vagina daily for mucus

Have sexual intercourse during the dry days, when no mucus appears.

Abstain from intercourse once mucus appears and continue abstinence until four days after mucus has ceased to be felt.

Abstain from intercourse once there is inter-menstrual bleeding.

Abstain on alternate days, during the learning phase, prior to onset of the feeling or observation of mucus in order to minimize the difficulty of recognizing the onset of mucus secretion because of the presence of seminal fluid.

Record findings daily on appropriate chart.

The Symto-Thermal Method.

This is a combination of the temperature, calendar and mucus method to determine time of ovulation. Other ovulation associated signs and symptoms such as breast tenderness, feeling of bloatedness, midcycle pain, vaginal spotting are also used in this method.

Abstain from intercourse during the fertile period as determined by BBT or calendar method, or when mucus is first noted, whichever comes first.

Prolonged Lactation Method

Breast feeding can be used as a method of contraception because it causes lactational amenorrhoea and anovulation.  For it to be very effective you will need to make sure that you are a lactating mother, and the baby is not more than six months old, and your baby does not sleep throughout the night, also that your baby breastfeeds more than ten times a day and the baby does not take any other food or drink (exclusive breast feeding)

Breast feeding must be the sole source of baby feeding.

Breastfeed as often as the child demands.

Do not give a pacifier or Dummy.

Allow a long time on the breast each time.

Breastfeed at least ten times in the day and at least twice at night.

Give no other food or drink before 4-6 months of age.

If for any reason the milk begins to fail or breastfeeding is interrupted or irregular, use some other method of contraception.

Withdrawal Method (Coitus Interruptus)

This is another way of preventing unwanted pregnancy, and this is done by the man withdrawing his penis from the woman’s vagina when he reaches the point of ejaculation. This method is not always reliable because at the height of sexual pleasure, most men can forget or be reluctant to pull out.