Family planning

Filipino households consist of an average of 4.2 people.

Surveys of the Filipino people show that families are often larger than what people would like.

If you have 10 motorcycles which don't run very well, wouldn't it be better to have just two or three good, reliable ones? In other words, if you have a small family, you generally have more time and money to take care of the children as far as food, medical and dental expenses, and their education.

Unless you have a lot of money, it is difficult to have a lot of children. So why are families so slow to better manage their family size? One woman told me she was afraid if she used the birth control pill that later on she couldn't have children. There is no scientific truth to this idea. A few men and women won't be able to have children, however it is very unlikely to be related to any modern birth control method.

The problem is if you don't have enough education you cannot readily understand medical information, and you can be easily misled by false information.

Most of the time the sensationalistic posts on social media are just garbage. Sometimes a video or post will start with something that is true, and then go into something that is half true, and then lead you to a conclusion that is not true at all.

The more education a woman has, the better they manage the size of their families.

Here in the Philippines, one out of 10 married women use a traditional birth control method, while five out of 10 are not using any contraceptive method at all. Modern methods include female sterilization, male sterilization, the popular pill, IUD, an injectable jab, and the useful condom. There are also the ovulation methods, Standard Days Method, and the Lactational Amenorrhea Method.

If you are interested in having more control of your family size, your doctor or your local barangay health clinic are good places to start.

You can get free contraceptives at barangay health centers. These are usually condoms and birth control pills.