QuickOverview

Reproductive health covers many different issues related to pregnancy treatments and fertility. This article is a general discussion of reproductive health issues and a pointer to other resoureces on QuickOverview.com that contain more in depth information.

Contraception

There are many choices for contraceptives on the market today. The following articles cover the most popular methods:

Contraception Overview is a general article that discusses the pros and cons of the different methods available.

The birth control pill has been available for years and had a deep impact on society as families became better able to plan their lives. However, there are downsides to the pill as it takes some time to regain fertility after a stop in usage and the hormones in the pills can have adverse (and sometimes positive) effects on women.

Condom use is very wide spread as it provides a convenient form of birth control. It also provides for safety against many sexually transmitted diseases.

Depo-Provera is an injectable hormonal contraceptive that is easier to use than the birth control pill since it does not have to be administered every day.

The diaphragm is a cervical barrier type of birth control.

Fertility

Both women and men have hormonal cycles which determine both when a woman can achieve pregnancy and when a man is most fertile. The female cycle is approximately twenty-eight days long, but the male cycle is variable. Women ovulate at about the fourteenth day of their cycle, this obviously being the most fertile time for females (The 14th day is considered a common myth: ). Men can ejaculate and produce sperm at any time of the month, but their libido dips occasionally, which scientists guess is in relation to their internal cycle. A study done in Mexico suggests that men's libido levels are also sometimes correlated to their partner's monthly cycle.

During the fourteenth week of fetal growth, the eggs (or ova) form in the ovaries of a female fetus, where they will remain until puberty. At puberty, the eggs will eventually start to mature one-by-one. At ovulation, the egg bursts from the ovary sometimes causing a small, sharp pain called mittelschmerz (German for "middle pain"). If the egg is not fertilized by the male’s sperm, the egg will break down within twenty-four hours into its components (mostly protein) and be reabsorbed by the body.

A study suggests that women dress more provocatively when they are at their most fertile .

Female Fertility After 30

Women's fertility peaks in their early twenties, and often deteriorates after 30. Of women trying to get pregnant, without using fertility drugs or in vitro fertilization:

• At age 30, 75% will get pregnant within one year, and 91% within four years.
• At age 35, 66% will get pregnant within one year, and 84% within four years.
• At age 40, 44% will get pregnant within one year, and 64% within four years.

Those figures are for conception, not for the birth of a healthy baby. According to the March of Dimes, "about 9 percent of recognized pregnancies for women aged 20 to 24 ended in miscarriage. The risk rose to about 20 percent at age 35 to 39, and more than 50 percent by age 42."

Birth defects, especially those involving chromosome number and arrangement, also increase with the age of the mother. According to the March of Dimes, "At age 25, a woman has about a 1-in-1,250 chance of having a baby with Down syndrome; at age 30, a 1-in-1,000 chance; at age 35, a 1-in-400 chance; at age 40, a 1-in-100 chance; and at 45, a 1-in-30 chance."

Here are some quick overviews of the most popular forms of infertility treatment:

In Vitro Fertilization - This treatment involves fertilizing an egg in a lab and transferring a living embryo into the uterus. When first invented, successful births were commonly referred to as "test tube babies."

Artificial Insemination - this treatment involves injecting sperm into the uterus.

Background of Reproductive Health

Within the framework of WHO's definition of health as a state of complete physical, mental and social well-being, and not merely the absence of disease or infirmity, reproductive health addresses the reproductive processes, functions and system at all stages of life. Reproductive health, therefore, implies that people are able to have a responsible, satisfying and safe sex life and that they have the capability to reproduce and the freedom to decide if, when and how often to do so. Implicit in this are the right of men and women to be informed of and to have access to safe, effective, affordable and acceptable methods of fertility regulation of their choice, and the right of access to appropriate health care services that will enable women to go safely through pregnancy and childbirth and provide couples with the best chance of having a healthy infant.

International Conference on Population and Development (ICPD), 1994

The International Conference on Population and Development (ICPD) was held in Cairo, Egypt, from 5 to 13 September 1994. Delegations from 179 States took part in negotiations to finalize a Programme of Action on population and development for the next 20 years. Some 20,000 delegates from various governments, UN agencies, NGOs, and the media gathered for a discussion of a variety of population issues, including immigration, infant mortality, birth control, family planning, the education of women, but the real issue was a program to promote a global regime of abortion on demand.

The document endorses a new strategy which emphasizes the numerous linkages between population and development and focuses on meeting the needs of individual women and men rather than on achieving demographic targets.

Key to this new approach is empowering women and providing them with more choices through expanded access to education and health services and promoting skill development and employment. The Programme advocates making family planning universally available by 2015, or sooner, as part of a broadened approach to reproductive health and rights, provides estimates of the levels of national resources and international assistance that will be required, and calls on Governments to make these resources available.

The Programme of Action includes goals in regard to education, especially for girls, and for the further reduction of infant, child and maternal mortality levels. It also addresses issues relating to population, the environment and consumption patterns; the family; internal and international migration; prevention and control of the HIV/AIDS pandemic; information, education and communication; and technology, research and development.

The ICPD was a United Nations conference, organized principally by the United Nations Population Fund (UNFPA) and the Population Division of the UN Department for Economic and Social Information and Policy Analysis.

Other Resources

Planned Parenthood is an excellent organization providing families with reproductive health guidance.

The abortion debate heats up during every election cycle and brings out heated debates.

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