Importance Objectives and Role of Nurse in Family Planning- Family planning is an effective way of avoiding high risk pregnancies and ensuring
responsible parenthood. By having fewer children the health of women improves. Having large number of children increases the mother’s and children’s risk of illness or death. Women who become pregnant while they are still very young run a much greater risk of complications during pregnancy and childbirth. Thus family planning aims at promoting health of family members, especially the mother, through spacing of births and limitation of family size. Family planning is now considered to be one of the basic human rights and necessary for better quality of life. Child spacing is very important for family health and can help women to gain freedom and equality. Family planning is to be promoted as an integral part of family health care and in the context of total health and development programmes. Family planning needs to be developed as a people’s programme.
The family welfare programme aims to check population growth so as to have a more
stable population. In order to have a stable population births and deaths in a country
should be about equal.

Importance Objectives and Role of Nurse in Family Planning

Objectives
To bring down birth rate, reduce population growth and improve quality of life are the
main objectives. To achieve these objectives national population policies are set up.
These are:

• to raise the age of marriage from 15 to 18 years for girls and 18 to 21 years for boys
• population education for all including school children
• women’s education
• promotion of all methods of contraception
• health programmes to cover all aspects of family welfare, particularly the mother and children
• community participation in all aspects of implementation of the programme
• to create awareness about concept of small family norm which means two children per couple in the family.
• to give information about methods of family planning to all eligible couples
• to ensure adequate supplies and facilities.

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Role of Nurse in Family Planning
The community health nurse can educate the family and the eligible couples on
advantages of a planned family. To do this she should:

• conduct survey to develop eligible couple list and use this for carrying out family planning activities
• motivate couples to adopt family planning methods and arrange for facilities to provide these methods
• offer follow-up services for mothers who have adopted FP methods and treat side effects or minor complaints, if any
• train and supervise health workers, depot holders and maintain the record of the services rendered through them
• involve voluntary health guides, women leaders and other voluntary members; give them training, guidance and supplies
• encourage satisfied family planning acceptors to promote family planning
• give advice and refer if any couple needs infertility clinic services
• help women in availing facilities of Medical Termination of Pregnancy, if required
• maintain records and reports
• communicate with individuals, groups and through mass media
• supervise dais and community level workers
• arrange incentives for members contributing towards achievement of targets.