REPRODUCTIVE HEALTH-NOTES
REPRODUCTIVE HEALTH
According to WHO, reproductive
health means total well-being in all aspects of reproduction i.e. physical,
emotional, behavioral and social.
Reproductive
Health: Problem and Strategies
- India was amongst the first countries in the world to
initiate to the programme “family planning” initiated in 1951.
- Reproductive health in a society forms a crucial part
of general health.
- Improved programs covering wider reproduction-related
areas are currently in operation under the popular name ‘Reproductive and
child health care (RCH) program.’
- Health and education of young people and marriage
and child bearing during more mature stages of life are important attributes
to the reproductive health of a society.
Measures
taken by Government :
- Through the help of audio-visuals & print media.
- Even family members, close relations are involved in
the awareness.
- Sex education was introduced in schools to
provide awareness
- Proper information about reproductive organs,
adolescence & related changes , safe & hygienic sexual
practices, sexually transmitted diseases, AIDS etc.
Amniocentesis – It is a technique used to find out chromosomal
abnormalities in developing embryo by using amniotic fluid.
- It is also misused to check foetal sex determination
based on the chromosomal pattern in the amniotic fluid surrounding the
developing embryo.
Population
Explosion and Birth Control
Improved quality of life of people,
increased health facilities and better living condition had an explosive impact
on explosion of population.
- Rapid decline in death rate, MMR (maternal mortality rate) and IMR (infant mortality rate) along with increase in
population of reproductive age is the main reason for population
explosion.
- Steps to overcome population explosion-
1.
Using various contraceptive methods.
2.
Educating people about the demerits
of large family.
3.
Increasing the marriageable age of
female and male
4.
Providing incentive to parents
having 1or 2 children.
- Contraceptive methods are
used to prevent the unwanted pregnancy and modifying the menstrual cycle.
- An ideal contraceptive should be-
1.
User friendly
2.
Easily available
3.
Effective
4.
Reversible
5.
No side effects
6.
No way interferes with sexual desire
and sexual act.
Contraceptive methods could be
divided into following categories-
a) Natural or traditional methods
b) Barrier methods
c) IUDs
d) Oral contraceptive methods
e) Injectable
f) Implants
g) Surgical methods.
- Natural methods works
on the principle of avoiding chances of ovum and sperm meeting. It
includes-
a) Periodic abstinence– the couples avoid coitus from day 10 to 17 of menstrual cycle as chances of fertilisation are very high during this period, it is called the fertile period.
b) Withdrawal or coitus interruptus – male partner withdraws penis from vagina just before ejaculation to avoid insemination .
c) Lactational Amenorrhea – absence of menstruation after parturition and due to intense milk feeding and no ovulation in this period , chances of fertilisation is nil. - In Barrier methods,
ovum and sperms are prevented from physical meeting with help of barrier.
This includes-
a) Condoms– used by male, barrier made of rubber or latex sheet used to cover penis or vagina and cervix of female. It also prevents from STDs.
condom for female
b) Diaphragms, cervical cap and vaults are
barrier made of rubber that is inserted into the female reproductive tract
during coitus.
- .Spermicidal creams, jellies and foams are usually used
along with these barriers to increase their contraceptive efficiency.
- Advantages of barrier methods:
1. They are disposable.
2. They can be self –inserted.
3. They are reusable.
4. Prevents conception by blocking entry of sperm through cervix. - Intra uterine Devices–
inserted by doctor or trained nurse into the female uterus through vagina.
IUCDs may be non-medicated IUDs (e.g., Lippes loop), copper releasing IUDs
(CuT, Cu7, Multiload 375) and the hormone releasing IUDs (Progestasert,
LNG-20)
- IUCDs increase the phagocytosis of sperm in uterus and
copper reduce the motility and fertility capacity of sperms. The hormone
releasing IUDs make the uterus unsuitable for implantation and the cervix
hostile to the sperms. It is ideal for female who wants to delay
pregnancy and spacing between two children.
- Oral Pills are
progesterone or progesterone-estrogen combination used by females in form
of tablets. They inhibit ovulation and implantation as well as change the
quality of cervical mucus to prevent/ retard entry of sperms. Administration
of progesterone or progesterone-estrogen combination within 72 hours of coitus
is found to be very effective as emergency contraceptive.
- Surgical method –
This method is also called sterilisation.
- It is used as terminal method of contraception in male
and female to prevent any more pregnancy.
Tubectomy
- Vasectomy is
the surgical method in male; a small part of the vas deferens is removed
or tied up through a small incision on the scrotum to prevent release
of sperms.
- Tubectomy is
the surgical method in females in which small part of fallopian tube is
removed surgically.
- These techniques are highly effective but their
reversibility is very poor
Side
effects of contraceptive method:
• It is very important that the
selection of contraceptive method should be taken under the consultation of the
doctors.
• They have ill-effects like nausea, abdominal pain, breakthrough
bleeding, irregular menstrual bleeding or even breast cancer.
Medical
Termination of Pregnancy
Voluntary termination of pregnancy
before full term is called MTP (medical termination of pregnancy) or induced
abortion. It plays important role in decreasing population by aborting unwanted
pregnancy.
- In India, MTP is legalized in 1971 with some
restriction to prevent its misuse such as indiscriminate and illegal
female foeticides.
- MTP is used to
- Get rides of unwanted pregnancy due to unprotected
intercourse or failure of contraceptives used during coitus or rapes.
- When pregnancy continuation could be harmful or even
fetal to mother or foetus.
- MTPs are considered relatively safe during first trimester
or up to 12 weeks of pregnancy. Second trimester MTPs are much more
riskier.
Sexually
Transmitted Disease (STDs)
Diseases or infections which are
transmitted through sexual intercourse are collectively called sexually
transmitted disease or venereal disease (VD) or reproductive tract infection
(RTI).
- Some common STDs are Gonorrhea, syphilis, genital
herpes, chlamydiasis, genital warts, trichomoniasis, hepatitis-Ba and
AIDS.
- Hepatitis-B and HIV is also transmitted by sharing of
injection needles, surgical instruments with infected person, transfusion
of blood, or from infected mother to foetus.
- Except genital herpes, HIV and hepatitis-B are
completely curable if detected earlier and treated properly.
- Timely detection and proper treatment of STDs are very
important otherwise it could lead to complications later, which include
pelvic inflammatory diseases (PID), abortions, still births, ectopic
pregnancies, infertility or even cancer of the reproductive tract.
- Infections of STDs can be prevented by-
a) Avoid sex with unknown
partners/multiple partners.
b) Always use condoms during coitus.
c) Go to a qualified doctor in case
of doubt for early detection and get complete treatment if diagnosed.
Infertility : The couples which are unable to reproduce children inspite
of unprotected sexual cohabitation are called infertile.The reasons for this
could be many-physical, congenital, diseases, drugs, Immunological or even
Psychological.
- Infertile couples can be assisted to have children
through certain special techniques commonly called assisted reproductive technologies (ART) ,which
includes-
In vitro fertilisation (IVF)-fertilisation outside the body followed by embryo transfer,
which is commonly called test tube baby program. The ovum from wife/donor and
sperms from husband/ donor are collected and induced to fertilize in laboratory
conditions. The zygote or early embryo (8 blastomeres) could be transferred
into fallopian tube called ZIFT (zygote
infra fallopian transfer) and embryo with more than 8 blastomeres IUT (intra uterine transfer) into the uterus to
complete the further development.
GIFT (gamete intra fallopian
transfer) –transfer of gametes collected from a
donor into fallopian tube of another female who do not produce ovum.
Intra cytoplasmic sperm
injection (ICSI)-specialized procedure to form an
embryo in laboratory in which sperm is directly injected into ovum.
Artificial insemination- infertility cases in which male partner is unable to produce
healthy sperms are treated by this technique in which semen collected from
donor is artificially introduced into vagina or into uterus, IUI ( intra uterine insemination) of the female.
All these techniques require
extremely high precision handling by specialized professional and expensive
instruments. Therefore, their
benefits are limited to certain countries and people.
Emotional, religious and social
factors also prevent the adoption of these methods.
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