Family Planning And Reproductive Health Services In Ghana

The second most populous country in the West African subregion, Ghana is plagued by a population growth rate that far exceeds its economic growth rate. Hence, comprehensive action in family planning is needed to improve the country's social and economic well-being. Although studies on family planning and reproductive health are not lacking, the information is scattered. This annotated bibliography compiles the existing works on family planning and reproductive health in Ghana into a single resource guide. Every effort has been made to include all scholarly works, books, chapters in books, conference papers, discussion papers, periodical literature, public documents, thesis and dissertations, and technical reports, thereby providing scholars and practitioners with quick access to a wide range of research materials. The book is arranged into six topical chapters. Chapter one covers population dynamics, with a focus on general population characteristics and trends in population growth through fertility, mortality, and migration. Chapter two lists works on general reproductive behavior and contraception, including attitudes toward fertility, fertility preference, men's role in contraception and contraceptive devices. Chapter three includes works dealing with family planning program development and evaluation. Chapter four turns to factors other than contraception affecting fertility, such as breast-feeding, sexual practice, maternal age, birth intervals, nuptiality, sex roles, and sex preference. Chapter five is devoted to studies concerning primary health services, such as health delivery systems, child and maternal health, nutrition, traditional birth attendants, disease, and abortion. The final chapter covers general population policy and legislation.

This document outlines the key principles used in the Community and Provider-driven Social Accountability Intervention (CaPSAI) Project study for implementing social accountability processes in the context of family planning and contraceptive (FP/C) services. The CaPSAI study builds on and contributes to a growing but limited work to better understand how social accountability and participatory processes in the context of family planning and contraceptive programmes and services contribute to the greater achievement of sexual and reproductive health and rights. The document aims to inform practitioners or civil society organizations (CSOs) how the intervention was designed, implemented and monitored to support the integration of social accountability in the provision of contraceptive information and services. It was not intended to be a strict set of activities that were implemented exactly as outlined. Rather, it is a set of steps that were considered during the planning and implementing of the social accountability activities. During the implementation, flexibility and responsiveness were encouraged.

Female reproductive topics are very common and can affect the patient’s quality of life. Such topics include puberty, endometriosis, breastfeeding, subfertility, menstrual problems, polycystic ovary syndrome, problems during pregnancy, uterine fibroids, various benign and malignant conditions of the reproductive organs, various sexually transmitted infections, family planning, and contraception. Good reproductive health covers the physical, mental, and social well-being. However, to maintain it, women need to be informed and empowered to protect themselves through access to services that can help them have a fit pregnancy, safe delivery, and healthy baby. This book is intended to cover some of the female reproductive issues for all specialties involved in health care for women.

The evaluation of reproductive, maternal, newborn, and child health (RMNCH) by the Disease Control Priorities, Third Edition (DCP3) focuses on maternal conditions, childhood illness, and malnutrition. Specifically, the chapters address acute illness and undernutrition in children, principally under age 5. It also covers maternal mortality, morbidity, stillbirth, and influences to pregnancy and pre-pregnancy. Volume 3 focuses on developments since the publication of DCP2 and will also include the transition to older childhood, in particular, the overlap and commonality with the child development volume. The DCP3 evaluation of these conditions produced three key findings: 1. There is significant difficulty in measuring the burden of key conditions such as unintended pregnancy, unsafe abortion, nonsexually transmitted infections, infertility, and violence against women. 2. Investments in the continuum of care can have significant returns for improved and equitable access, health, poverty, and health systems. 3. There is a large difference in how RMNCH conditions affect different income groups; investments in RMNCH can lessen the disparity in terms of both health and financial risk.