185
c h apter 9
Family
planning
Women are healthier when they can decide for themselves when to have sex and
when to have children. These decisions should always be their choice, and women
who use family planning are better able to make these choices. You can use family
planning to:
• help you decide how many children
you want to have and when to have
them.
• prevent becoming pregnant unless
you want to.
Every woman will be
healthier if she can
decide for herself
when to have sex and
when to have children.
• help you and your partner enjoy sex
more because you do not have to
worry about getting pregnant.
Some family planning methods have other benefits. For example:
• condoms protect against sexually transmitted infections, including HIV/AIDS.
• hormonal methods (see page 196) can help with irregular bleeding and pain
during your monthly bleeding.
Unfortunately, many women around the world are denied access to family planning
or to the methods they prefer. This happens for many reasons. Some people believe
family planning is dangerous to a woman’s health. But the main reason is that religious
and political authorities do not believe women should decide for themselves when and
how to use family planning.