Reproductive Health

Notes

Reproductive Health

Reproductive health means total well-being in all aspects of reproduction, including physical, emotional, behavioural and social well-being.

Problems Related to Reproductive Health

1. Lack of knowledge about personal hygiene and hygiene of reproductive organs may increase the risk of sexually transmitted diseases.
2. Early marriage may lead to a high maternal and infant mortality rate.
3. Lack of awareness may contribute to a rapid increase in population.
4. Inadequate knowledge and misconceptions about sex-related issues can create reproductive health problems.

Strategies for Reproductive Health

Several measures and programmes have been introduced to improve reproductive health.

• Family planning programmes were initiated as early as 1951.
• Reproductive and Child Health Care (RCH) programmes were launched in 1997.

Important Strategies

1. Creating awareness among people about various reproduction-related aspects.
2. Providing facilities and support for building a reproductively healthy society.
3. Using audio-visual aids and print media to create awareness about reproduction-related aspects.
4. Providing proper information about reproductive organs, adolescence and related changes, safe and hygienic sexual practices, and sexually transmitted diseases.
5. Educating people about birth-control options, care of pregnant mothers, postnatal care of mother and child, breastfeeding, and equal opportunities for male and female children.
6. Creating awareness about problems caused by uncontrolled population growth, sexual abuse and sex-related crimes.

Amniocentesis

Amniocentesis is a prenatal diagnostic technique used to detect certain abnormalities in the developing foetus.

Important: The use of amniocentesis for sex determination is legally banned.

Population Explosion

The tremendous increase in the size and growth rate of a population is called population explosion.

• The world population was about 2 billion in 1900 and reached about 6 billion in 2000.
• The population of India at the time of independence was about 350 million and crossed 1 billion in May 2000.

Reasons for High Population Growth

1. Rapid decline in death rate
2. Decline in Infant Mortality Rate (IMR)
3. Decline in Maternal Mortality Rate (MMR)
4. Increase in the number of people in the reproductive age group

Steps to Curb Population Growth

1. Raising the marriageable age of girls to 18 years and boys to 21 years.
2. Providing incentives to couples with small families.