The Cochrane Fertility Regulation Group: synthesizing the best evidence about family planning

While the available methods of fertility regulation have a number of drawbacks they do permit family size to be restricted to any desired level. Unfortunately, many family planning programmes only make available an arbitrary selection of methods through a limited number of channels, which are neither culturally appropriate nor geographically accessible to the majority of the population. Yet there is evidence that adequate services can be conducted with available methods. One factor of great importance is the need for realism about the use of elective early abortion and voluntary sterilization. Given these options and an imaginative use of the present reversible methods of contraception, it is concluded that significant demographic changes could be achieved.

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Respondents’ Exposure to Community-based Services and Reported Fertility-Regulation Behavior: A Decade of Data from the Navrongo Community Health and Family Planning Project

Studies in Family Planning ◽

10.1111/j.1728-4465.2016.00049.x ◽

2016 ◽

Vol 47 (1) ◽

pp. 55-68

Author(s):

Elizabeth F. Jackson ◽

Ayaga A. Bawah ◽

John E. Williams ◽

James F. Phillips

Keyword(s):

Family Planning ◽

Community Health ◽

Community Based ◽

Fertility Regulation ◽

Planning Project ◽

Community Based Services

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Fertility trends in Singapore

Journal of Biosocial Science ◽

10.1017/s0021932000017521 ◽

1988 ◽

Vol 20 (4) ◽

pp. 401-409 ◽

Cited By ~ 5

Author(s):

Kuldip Singh ◽

Osborn Viegas ◽

S. S. Ratnam

Keyword(s):

Family Planning ◽

Infant Mortality ◽

Population Growth ◽

Fertility Regulation ◽

Mortality And Morbidity ◽

Fertility Trends ◽

International Agencies ◽

Industrialized Nations ◽

Mothers And Children ◽

Striking Effect

SummaryA major cause for the disparity in maternal and infant mortality and morbidity between the developing world and industrialized nations is the uncontrolled population growth seen in the former, largely brought about by failure of authorities to realize the importance of fertility regulation. Some governments and international agencies have introduced family planning programmes which have had a striking effect on the health of mothers and children. This study traces demographic changes in Singapore in the context of legislation disincentives and incentives.

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Fertility regulation as identity maintenance: Understanding the social aspects of birth control

Journal of Health Psychology ◽

10.1177/1359105317726367 ◽

2017 ◽

Vol 23 (2) ◽

pp. 240-251 ◽

Cited By ~ 11

Author(s):

Cicely Marston ◽

Alicia Renedo ◽

Gertrude Nsorma Nyaaba

Keyword(s):

Family Planning ◽

Social Identity ◽

Birth Control ◽

Reproductive Rights ◽

Social Aspects ◽

Social Psychological ◽

Fertility Regulation ◽

Identity Maintenance ◽

Contraception Use ◽

The Social

We take a dialogical approach to exploring fertility regulation practices and show how they can maintain or express social identity. We identify three themes in educated Ghanaian women’s accounts of how they navigate conflicting social demands on their identity when trying to regulate fertility: secrecy and silence – hiding contraception use and avoiding talking about it; tolerating uncertainty – such as using unreliable but more socially acceptable contraception; and wanting to be fertile and protecting menses. Family planning programmes that fail to tackle such social-psychological obstacles to regulating fertility will risk reproducing social spaces where women struggle to claim their reproductive rights.

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Contraceptive development for developing countries: unmet needs

Proceedings of the Royal Society of London Series B Biological Sciences ◽

10.1098/rspb.1976.0108 ◽

1976 ◽

Vol 195 (1118) ◽

pp. 187-198 ◽

Cited By ~ 1

Keyword(s):

Developing Countries ◽

Family Planning ◽

Product Development ◽

New Technology ◽

Information Service ◽

Product Introduction ◽

Fertility Regulation ◽

Wide Range ◽

Research Programmes ◽

Bio Engineering

A significant number of advances in fertility regulation is now under development. These advances in technology represent modest gains rather than dramatic breakthroughs; they frequently involve a bio-engineering input, include collaboration between public agencies and industry, and are closely related to the needs of developing countries. Such advances are the result of the existence of specialized programmes whose major objective is the development of new technology. As yet a similar specialized public mechanism to undertake the wide range of activities associated with product development and introduction of the new technology into family planning programmes does not exist. The three major phases of the contraceptive development process are defined (biomedical development, product development, and product introduction-market development) and four areas requiring greater attention identified. A product development laboratory that would accept responsibility for dosage form development, stability testing, quality control procedures, product and packaging modifications, and the production of supplies for biomedical research would increase the acceptability of existing methods and accelerate new developments. A contraceptive information service that would provide ‘full disclosure’ product related information to managers of family planning programmes is also needed. A patent and licensing administration for the public sector would assure that new contraceptives developed with public funds would be made widely available to family planning programmes at a reasonable cost. A contraceptive introduction planning unit that would consider the programme implications of new methods of fertility regulation and assist countries in planning for their introduction also needs to be established as part of the ongoing international research programmes or as a new mechanism. The availability of a specialized capacity to assume responsibility for public leadership in these four areas would contribute significantly to the development of new contraceptive methods tailored to the needs of developing countries and to the success of current international contraceptive research and development efforts.

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