A health service that helps couples decide whether to have children, and if so, when and how many
The art of spacing your children the proper distance apart to keep you on the edge of financial disaster
pregnancy testing, birth control services, and women's health services such as abortion and the diagnosis and treatment of sexually transmitted diseases
Controlling reproduction; planning the timing of birth and having only as many babies as are wanted and can be supported
a system of limiting family size and the frequency of childbearing by the appropriate use of contraceptive techniques
The conscious effort of couples to regulate the number and spacing of births through artificial and natural methods of contraception Family planning connotes conception control to avoid pregnancy and abortion, but it also includes efforts of couples to induce pregnancy
The art of spacing your children the proper distance apart to keep you from falling into financial disaster
Social system that provides information, clinical services, and contraceptives to help individuals or couples determine the number and spacing of children they want to have
Access to family planning and contraceptive services has altered social and economic roles of women Family planning has provided health benefits such as smaller family size and longer interval between the birth of children; increased opportunities for preconceptional counseling and screening; fewer infant, child, and maternal deaths; and the use of barrier contraceptives to prevent pregnancy and transmission of human immunodeficiency virus and other STDs
Family planning is the practice of using contraception to control the number of children you have. a family planning clinic. A program to regulate the number and spacing of children in a family through the practice of contraception or other methods of birth control. the practice of controlling the number of children that are born by using contraception. Use of measures designed to regulate the number and spacing of children within a family, largely to curb population growth and ensure each family's access to limited resources. The first attempts to offer family planning services began with private groups and often aroused strong opposition. Activists such as Margaret Sanger in the U.S., Marie Stopes in England, and Dhanvanthis Rama Rau in India eventually succeeded in establishing clinics for family planning and health care. Today many countries have established national policies and encourage the use of public family services. The United Nations and the World Health Organization offer technical assistance. See also birth control
natural family planning in which the fertile period of the woman's menstrual cycle is inferred by noting the rise in basal body temperature that typically occurs with ovulation
any of several methods of family planning that do not involve sterilization or contraceptive devices or drugs; coitus is avoided during the fertile time of a woman's menstrual cycle
natural family planning in which the fertile period is inferred from changes in the character and quantity of cervical mucus; ovulation is marked by an increase in mucus that becomes sticky and then clearer and slippery