Reproductive Health 1 Flashcards
what is reproductive health
According to the World Health Organization (WHO), Reproductive Health
means a total well-being in all aspects of reproduction, i.e., physical,
emotional, behavioral and social.
* Therefore, a society with people having physically and functionally normal
reproductive organs and normal emotional and behavioral interactions
among them in all sex-related aspects might be called Reproductively
Healthy.
india was one of the first countries to raise awareness about reproductive health? what did it initiate? what was its goals?
- India was amongst the 1st countries in the world to initiate action plans and
programs at a national level to attain total reproductive health as a social goal.
This program is called “Family Planning”, 1951. - In 1977 it changed into Family welfare program- “To improve the quality of
life of people” - Objectives of Family Planning-
1. To avoid unwanted Birth
2. To Bring about wanted birth
3. To regulate the interval between pregnancies
4. To determine the number of children in family
what is the rch programme
Improved programs covering wider reproduction-related areas are currently
in operation under the popular name “Reproductive and Child Health Care
(RCH) programs”. Creating awareness among people about various reproduction related
aspects and providing facilities and support for building up a
reproductively healthy society are the major tasks under these
programmes.
RCH programme- Creating awareness among people about various reproduction related
aspects-
(i) With the help of audio-visual and the print-media governmental and non-governmental agencies have taken various steps to create awareness among the people about reproduction-related aspects.
(ii)Parents, other close relatives, teachers and friends, also have a major role in the dissemination of the above information.
(iii) Introduction of sex education in schools should also be encouraged to provide right information to the young so as to discourage children from believing in myths and having misconceptions about sex-related aspects. Proper information
about reproductive organs, adolescence and related changes, safe and hygienic sexual practices, sexually transmitted diseases (STD), AIDS, etc., would help people, especially those in the adolescent age group to lead a reproductively healthy life.
(iv) Educating people, especially fertile couples and those in marriageable age group, about available birth control options, care of pregnant mothers, post-natal care of the mother and child, importance of breast feeding, equal opportunities for the male
and the female child, etc., would address the importance of bringing up socially conscious healthy families of desired size.
(v)Awareness of problems
due to uncontrolled population growth, social evils like sex-abuse and sex-related crimes, etc., need to be created to enable people to think and take up necessary steps to prevent them and thereby build up a socially responsible and healthy society.
Providing facilities and support for building up a reproductively healthy
society- RCH programmme
(i) Successful implementation of various action plans to attain
reproductive health requires strong infrastructural facilities, professional expertise and material support. These are essential to provide medical assistance and care to people in reproduction-related problems like pregnancy, delivery, STDs, abortions, contraception, menstrual problems, infertility, etc.
(ii) Implementation of better techniques and new strategies
from time to time are also required to provide more efficient care and assistance to people.
(iii)Statutory ban on amniocentesis (a foetal sex
determination test based on the chromosomal pattern in the amniotic fluid surrounding the developing embryo) for sex-determination to legally check increasing female foeticides, massive child immunisation, etc., are some programmes that merit mention in this connection.
(iv) Research on various reproduction-related areas are encouraged and supported by governmental and non-governmental agencies to find out new methods and/or to improve upon the existing ones.
what is amniocentesis
In the 14th or 16th week of pregnancy with the help of long surgical needle,
amniotic fluid is taken out from the uterus. In this fluid, few cells of embryo
(skin, liver and placenta) are present.
* This procedure is used to test for the presence of certain genetic disorders
such as, down syndrome, hemophilia, sickle-cell anemia, etc., determine the
survivability of the foetus.
* Statutory ban on amniocentesis for sex-determination to legally check
increasing female foeticides.
They are tested to know-
1. Genetic disorder or chromosomal abnormalities like Down’s Syndrome
2. Metabolic disorder (deficiency of protein, enzymes, hormones)
3. Detection of Sex (Barr bodies)
Chorionic Villus Sampling (CVS)
- CVS is another way to monitor fetal condition.
- Cells are sampled from chorionic villi to check chromosomal abnormalities.
- It is usually done between 8th and the 10th week of pregnancy.
Indications of improved reproductive health of the society-
Better awareness about sex related matters, increased number of medically
assisted deliveries and better post-natal care leading to decreased maternal
and infant mortality rates, increased number of couples with small
families, better detection and cure of STDs and overall increased medical
facilities for all sex-related problems, etc. all indicate improved reproductive
health of the society.
population numbers
The world population which was around 2 billion (2000 million) in 1900
rocketed to about 6 billion by 2000 and 7.2 billion in 2011. A similar trend
was observed in India too.
* Our population which was approximately 350 million at the time of our
independence reached close to the billion mark by 2000 and crossed 1.2
billion in May 2011.
reasons for population explosion
- Developing health provisions
- Engagement in technology
- Decrease mortality rate
- Decrease maternal mortality rate (MMR) & infant mortality rate (IMR)
- Increase in number of people in reproducible age
According to the
2001 census report, the population growth rate was still around 1.7 per
cent, i.e., 17/1000/year, a rate at which our population could double in
33 years. Such an alarming growth rate could lead to an absolute scarcity
of even the basic requirements, i.e., food, shelter and clothing, in spite of
significant progress made in those areas.
what are the steps taken to reduce population explosion
(i) The most important step to overcome this problem is to motivate smaller families by using various contraceptive methods.
(ii)You might have seen
advertisements in the media as well as posters/bills, etc., showing a happy couple with two children with a slogan Hum Do Hamare Do (we two, our two).
(iii) Many couples, mostly the young, urban, working ones have even
adopted an ‘one child norm’.
(iv) Statutory raising of marriageable age of the female to 18 years and that of males to 21 years, and
(v) incentives given to couples with small families are two of the other measures taken to tackle this problem.
what is contraceptive methods?
Contraceptive methods- which help either to prevent unwanted pregnancy
or to delay or space pregnancy due to personal reasons.
* The characteristics of an ideal contraceptive are-
1. User-friendly
2. Easily available
3. Cost Effective
4. Effective & reversible with no or least side-effects
5. It also should in no way interfere with the sexual drive, desire and/or the
sexual act of the user
what are MTPs
Intentional or voluntary termination of pregnancy before full term is called
medical termination of pregnancy (MTP) or induced abortion. Nearly
45 to 50 million MTPs are performed in a year all over the world which
accounts to 1/5th of the total number of conceived pregnancies in a year.
Obviously, MTP has a significant role in decreasing the population though
it is not meant for that purpose. Whether to accept/legalise MTP or not is
being debated upon in many countries due to emotional, ethical, religious
and social issues involved in it. Government of India legalised MTP in
1971 with some strict conditions to avoid its misuse. Such restrictions
are all the more important to check indiscriminate and illegal female
foeticides which are reported to be high in India.
Why MTP ?
to get rid of unwanted
pregnancies either due to casual unprotected intercourse or failure of the
contraceptive used during coitus or rapes. MTPs are also essential in
certain cases where continuation of the pregnancy could be harmful or
even fatal either to the mother or to the foetus or both.
is mtp safe?
MTPs are considered relatively safe during the first trimester, i.e., upto
12 weeks of pregnancy. Second trimester abortions are much more riskier.
One disturbing trend observed is that a majority of the MTPs are performed
illegally by unqualified quacks which are not only unsafe but could be
fatal too. Another dangerous trend is the misuse of amniocentesis to
determine the sex of the unborn child. Frequently, if the foetus is found
to be female, it is followed by MTP- this is totally against what is legal.
Such practices should be avoided because these are dangerous both for
the young mother and the foetus. Effective counselling on the need to avoid unprotected coitus and the risk factors involved in illegal abortions
as well as providing more health care facilities could reverse the mentioned
unhealthy trend.
