Birth control today; 7; Family Planning

When you ain't WBA a present's birth control today. Freedom and responsibility. This is a series of programs about birth control and how it affects us and our society. Today we will discuss the pros and cons of family planning. Responsible parenthood birth control contraception family planning all these terms refer to the ability to have your babies when you want them and as often as you want them. Scientific knowledge today enables us to plan and space our families according to our desires and

needs. It no longer has to be up to fate. The decision making process can now enter the picture. Lynn Landman is editor of Women's Medical News Service and a mother of two. The information center on population problems interviewed Mrs. linemen and reported on one of her articles where Landman had contributed the keynote article to an issue of the influential journal marriage and the family which is devoted entirely to family planning. In her article she comes out strongly for a sex education program that includes education about contraception for young people. This is lemon writes Young people are entitled to know that the timing and spacing of children in a family as well as the total number of children can affect the whole future of the family as a unit and of each individual in it that family planning is an important part of overall health care that both maternal and child health are affected by family planning. That mental health too is related to family planning. We asked Mrs.

Landman about family planning and its relationship to our family's health. I think all of us. What is great is that our mother's health is crucial to her family not in any sentimental way but in very practical terms. It's from mother becomes ill. Something happens to the family income that is disastrous. First of all her medical bills have to be paid. Second of all you have to have a housekeeper to take her place or some way of taking care of the children of the family. Study after study show that when a woman has babies frequently and two closely spaced her physical apparatus suffers this is. Clearly not good for her health. It may be very satisfying to her spiritually to have five babies in seven

years but literally in measurable ways this is not good for her. We also know for instance that the older a woman is the greater the hazards of pregnancy are for her. We also know that the older a woman is the greater the chances for children with defects mental and physical defects. We know that the younger a woman is too. If a woman is under 18 the hazards of pregnancy are greater because her body is not quite prepared for the burden of pregnancy. Pregnancy is not always a benign condition. A woman should be in first rate health when she conceived. In order to carry the pregnancy through successfully. That's why we consider family planning central because if a woman plans her family she can do that.

Taking into consideration her physical needs her emotional needs. We talked to Mr. John King president of the Lafayette Planned Parenthood Association about the meaning of family planning. According to his organization this is the process of deciding both on the number of children you want during your marriage and when you want to have them. It means allowing enough time between the birth of your children to enable you to meet each one's needs and to enable the wife to maintain a high level of good health so she can adequately care for a family. It may also mean limiting the number of children to avoid physical and or financial strain on the parents. Such considerations will help you provide the things you want for your family. All religious faiths agree on the importance of family planning. The differences occur in the methods of spacing limiting or otherwise selecting the time of desired pregnancies. While such planning does not guarantee a satisfying marriage it is often a factor a common stable home life is a joint responsibility of husband and wife as a

husband you should know that having too many children too fast threatens your wife's health both physically and emotionally. As a wife you should know that if you're overworked overtired and emotionally upset you may not be able to respond to your husband's love he in turn may feel unable to cope with the growing tensions he finds at home. These are the things that can destroy America. When right at the beginning of their marriage a husband and wife take the time to talk over the importance of planning for their family. They are more likely to build the kind of family and the kind of life they both want. In any such discussion the following points should be considered if before you marry you haven't finished the education and training you need to get and to hold a job. Remember this. Money wise and in other ways as well. It will be easier for you if you do not have the added responsibilities of children. A young wife may work while her husband completes his education but a young and pregnant wife or a new mother would probably find this impossible and Unplanned Pregnancy for

such a couple could mean the end of education and possibly a future economic security and advancement because of more immediate financial demands. You must ask if your paycheck will be big enough to cover the medical costs of bringing a baby into the world. Will you have enough money to pay for the basic needs of your children now and later. Perhaps both husband and wife will want to work for a time in order to save enough to help finish the home buy a car put something in the bank before the baby start joining the family. And you must also realize that it is not selfish to think about your rights. Consideration of yourself as a person is one of your first responsibilities as an adult. Old enough to be married. It is only as you mature and come to understand yourself that you will be able to assume and carry out the responsibilities of marriage. Marriage the most intimate of human relationships needs a strong foundation if it is to be lasting and satisfying. It is important to devote yourself to establishing this firm base before having your children before they become parents.

Young couples should enjoy being young and savoring all the activities that go with you. The time taken to adjust to your new way of life to go places and do things with your new lifetime companion often helps stabilize a marriage of course and rightly so couples that marry at a later age may wish to start their families sooner. All parents want to give their children a good start in life to make them feel wanted and secure to care for them until they are able to care for themselves. Children have a right to expect this from the parents who bring them into the world. However it is sometimes difficult for young couples to realize the many goods and services a child requires from the day he is brought home from the hospital through the teen years until he can look after himself physically emotionally and financially. And Mr. King can you explain in what ways the organization goes about informing people about birth control as a means of planning their families. Well we have a group of dedicated women mostly who contribute.

Two main ways. First is distributing information. Second is personal counseling and matching the needs of the clients as they call it with the resource of Bell available to help those clients. Now just what are some of the services that have been provided during this past year in this community. We have a few simple statistics which will state this in a quick way. It goes way beyond this when you get into the personal relationships which come up in providing these services but last year 80 women and us area were provided with contraceptive materials. Fifty two women had you do use inserted.

One mom had a tubal ligation. We had 13 women that had physical exams and prescription pill. Seven of the women were given pap smear tests. We also had three men that had vasectomies. I might mention the cost. Last year we spent a little over three thousand dollars. Most of this 80 percent went directly for patient services. The way we spend our money on. But it sure in All About 8 percent could be considered to be spent for education. 12 percent say for overhead we have a economical way of doing this work. A.

Probably where we should do more of it in this community. We probably should spend a little more money now that the Lafayette Planned Parenthood Association averages 12 new patients per month and estimates they will need seventy two hundred dollars for the coming year to serve all those who seek their help. Mr. King mentioned that part of the Planned Parenthood service is done on a personal contact basis. Caseworkers present family planning programs to interested residents in the community. Women are informed of the types of birth control available and are aided in obtaining contraceptive materials if they cannot afford to pay. Teaching is an important part of every contact. We joined Mrs. Herschel hunt caseworker and vice president of the local Planned Parenthood and she talked with new and old clients in the community Planned Parenthood and we have a program to go around trying to help people plan their families so they can have their children when they want them. And tell you something about what I understood in our program that tells all the different methods of birth control.

I don't know what you've heard out there is that the diaphragm the chemical in the rhythm which really doesn't do very much for birth control. You're probably acquainted with the PR you know. Oh you're on the pill now would you be interested in the IUD Have you ever seen that or know how it works. Yeah. My doctor checked me and he said that. Though Lou I think have to look very big but you are getting a birthcontrol help now Van ya got the first set. Did you know about our program in case you ever need to go without. Because if it comes to time or you can afford. I was going to call you today. How many children do you have now. 5 has been discussed birth control. Well take the pill because when you know they get sick

what doctor. So when private trouble I would try something else. So far I have little business when I first took the pill. You have any other side effects that you know. I wonder if there's a lot of me and inquiring about a vasectomy the surgery that Amanda has your husband ever considered. Yeah but we want to drive up here and we don't have a lot we don't have a want to land for five or six years we were paid to play in your family because it takes a lot to make Europeans doesn't it. Well see that's the only way that third marriage. Oh I don't know. I see. Did you plan your other five children when you know about real life. I did take a plane to have known that this woman was a past client. What was your reaction when we told you that we were planned parenthood and what

we did. I feel really good kids. I have many children I had my I was going to my fifth one. And had you lost some others besides. Yes I had three I had two miscarriages in the boy diet So in other words this was your eighth pregnancy. Yeah and what what did we do to help you doctor and got that satisfactory. Well it was but I was having difficulties with my Matley had stretched out for five or six days instead of four. And I had some pains through my stomach and my doctor told me go ahead and try for a little bit longer and he says

but he'll probably eventually have to come out. So I wouldn't had it out and he gave me a prescription for birth control pills and how long I've been on those first months of it now. Yeah but in the meantime you haven't been pregnant for two and a half years now and a really really good you don't seem as nervous as you did for a while. They are good on earth more than older ones. How did your husband feel about the birth control or was he feel about what he's in favor now and the first he didn't market it. He was mad but he got over it and you know Billy was running around as a little baby. That extra How long do you plan to stay on the PR.

Oh boy couple three years because we don't all girls. Oh wait that long and I will go back on birth control pills and stay. Has your husband considered a vasectomy or considered sterilization. I don't like operations and it scares me. Well of course tubal ligation following the birth of a child is rather simple you know. You probably know of some people that they do the ferret after delivery and it really is pretty simple. And we would have Planned Parenthood has had a lot of calls about the man wanting a vasectomy these days. There was a story afoot I think a lot of me and her are misinformed about what to me consists of a think maybe that they will reduce their sex or their Which it really has nothing to do with it I mean they're equating sterilization with

castration and that that is the brands are removed it's merely disconnects the tube they carry the sperm that causes pregnancy and there if there's there's an off we're having an awful lot of calls about this now because many men are going into this because of the population problem and the fact that it's one sure thing most of the time. Mrs. Hunt also talked to this mother of five when we first person to interview you had you thought anything about birth control. You want to do about it had you have been discussed. We talk about so much. What did he think how do you feel about what you want to do and what how do you feel about it. I wound up aeration. He didn't like the idea of an operation inside the paper so maybe changes my mind you have an appeal. Maybe it would hurt someone and then but I

didn't. From the stomach. And if people would still have if I was there with your help as much now then you want to change. Why did you want to do there. I thought I'd like it. And how does he feel about there. I didn't like it to be a reason after I got it it was I didn't say anything about it. You know all three cases individuals expressed fear of surgical operations and of the unknown.

However once informed about modern contraceptive techniques the clients were eager to learn more. Another group in the Lafayette area that AIDS people in the area of family counseling is the family service agency of typical new county financed by United Fund the agency provides a staff of trained social workers to counsel people who have problems regarding marital premarital or financial stress problem children and unwed mothers. An organization working with Family Planning on the state level is the Indiana family planning project in Indianapolis. Gary talked with Dr. Joseph F. THOMPSON The project director. Dr. Thompson What is the Indiana family planning project Indiana family planning project is a federally funded project using taxpayers money to provide family planning services namely contraceptive services and information to those people who cannot afford to pay. For this information themselves or cannot find a

physician who will provide it for them. What specific services that are supplied are a physical examination including a pelvic examination a breast examination blood pressure determination and hemoglobin determination. Prior to advising patients as to what methods of family planning are available to them and what are medically acceptable to them. One of the safeguards reading it written into the federal legislation concerning the expenditure of the taxpayer's money in this area is that certain requirements be met as far as physical examination of the patient. Laboratory work and other determinations so that it will be safe for the patient to take. The method of contraception. She wants. How does a person become a part of your project. Well the NDAA family planning project presently is

supplying services in Marion County which is Indianapolis and in Gary which is up in Lake County. Any individuals who either can't afford to pay for the services or South Park can't find them from room privatization can go to any clinic facility supported by the Indiana family planning project in either of these two counties and obtain these services free of charge. Are you coordinated with Planned Parenthood. Yes. In Marion County the Planned Parenthood clinics are the clinics of Planned Parenthood Association of marriage or Planned Parenthood of Marion County are supported by the family planning project. Likewise they Planned Parenthood clinics in northwest Indiana that Gary are supported by money from the family planning project. The project a show shown continued expansion since. It's onset we presently are serving in excess of 1000 new patients or

patients who return for yearly checks for a month. One aspect of the family planning project is that a a large portion of it is what we call in the hospital family planning. Now this consists of a nurse who is called a family planning counselor who talks to patients on the postpartum floor of the hospital after they've had a baby about what contraceptive services they want or desire. Now in Marion County we have a Family Planning Council learned that the SAH Spittal St. Vincent's Hospital Marion County General Hospital and Coleman hospital talk to each of the clinic patients that delivers. And in an attempt to terminate her contraceptive needs you know family planning needs or family planning desires and the project through the Family Planning counsellor in the hospital provides a patient with contraception at this point. At the center of the reasons for heavily having in the in hospital family planning counsellor this particular individual is not new or original

with the Indiana family planning project these individuals are being used in other parts of the country. But it was through the project that these individuals were first. Kind of organized and placed in hospitals here in Indianapolis and there are several good reasons for having in a hospital family planning. One is that you have a large number of people who want the service and see economic relationship to have one nurse talking to the individuals who are on the postpartum floor of the hospital. There are relatively few interruptions on the postpartum floor of the hospital there's no transportation problems of sick kids that might normally interfere with a woman going to a clinic to get the service. The second aspect of the reasonability of the hospital family planning counsellor is that immediately postpartum a woman is at peak motivation as far as her desire for contraception is concerned. And she's much more likely to utilize the

services than they have a year or two later and she's just hoping that she won't get pregnant. Not doing anything specific about it. The third reason for in-hospital family planning is that on the postpartum floor of the hospital you have the segment of the community that need the service in that way. Either they have not been using a method of family planning or their previous methods. So for this reason it's this aspect of being the Indiana family planning project which is relatively new or has added this additional service in this area freestanding planning such as Planned Parenthood has had in neighborhoods health clinics ahead are also included in the services offered by the family planning project. But the new thing that we've really added is the so-called in-hospital family planning counseling for the indigent patient to provide her with services when she goes home from the hospital after having a baby. Do you have material you distribute

material that we provide the patients. In other words we have a full spectrum of educational materials that is available to the patient in the clinic and in the hospital. This includes. Information of the various methods of contraception includes information on the advantages of planning your family the family planning project does not attempt to tell a patient in any way how many children she should have. It attempts to help the patient carry out her desires whether it be to have two children in two consecutive years and no more the rest of our lives or 10 children spaced out over 20 years. We stand ready to help a woman carry out her desires or help a family carry out their desires concerning their fertility and its control. How are doctors organizing the project in order to use the taxpayers money to supply this certain safeguards have to be carried out among these are a pelvic examination has been provided by a physician the physician has to decide through medical facts to determine

from the patient whether certain methods of contraception are ill advised in certain patients. In other words a patient who had had previous trouble with being a Strombo Ceasar had a pulmonary embolism. The use of the hormonal pills would be definitely be contraindicated in a patient too that had a previous IUD that she had expelled without knowing it and it got pregnant. The use of an IED subsequently after this pregnancy would be ill advised in that the first one fell out the second one might fell fall out unbeknown to the patient she might end up pregnant again. It's this medical decision that is necessary and is required when the taxpayer's money is used in providing this service for patients. Do you as an organization take a patient and director to a specific person. Doctor are family planning counselors have a list of all the clinic facility in Marion County that provides services and any patient that calls up can be

directed to the nearest facility for her convenience. There are roughly seven Planned Parenthood clinics that provide the services. There are six clinics of the public health provision of the help national corporation that provide service. There's a clinic at Methodist clinic at St. Vincent. Clinical and to clinics in general that provide the service so that the county is pretty well bracketed are pretty well surface at clinical facilities. Do other states in the United States have similar projects. To my knowledge there is no other state wide family planning project as we have here in Indiana Indiana the closest thing that approaches that is Louisiana. Many other states have separate projects relating to cities and counties in specific areas that are supported by the taxpayers money. Local state and national family planning programs

have made considerable progress in the past few years. Bernard Burleson of the Population Council summarized the status of national family planning programs. He says the field has moved from expressing alarm over the population problem to setting up organized and staffed efforts to do something about it. From the profits to the operators from thinking that people of the developing world were interested in family planning to learning the large proportions are interesting. This has been birth control today. Freedom and responsibility. The next programme in the series will discuss what the churches say about birth control. Today's special guests were Mr. John King president of Planned Parenthood in Lafayette vice president of the local Planned Parenthood and Dr. Joseph F. THOMPSON physician and project director of the Indiana family planning project. The series was written and produced by Colleen Gary and narrated by David Brody recording engineers Mauresmo bridge. Your announcer Roger

priest. The series is presented through the instructional radio division of WBA at Purdue University in West Lafayette Indiana. This is the national educational radio network.