Reproductive Health Law

RH Law (RA 10354)
  • The Reproductive Health Law, popularly known as the RH Law (RA 10354), previously, the Rh Bill, aims to guarantee universal access to methods and information on birth control and maternal care.

  1. House Bill No. 4244 or An Act Providing for a Comprehensive Policy on Responsible Parenthood, Reproductive Health, and Population and Development, and For Other Purposes introduced by Albay 1st district Representative Edcel Lagman.

  2. Senate Bill No. 2378 or An Act Providing For a National Policy on Reproductive Health and Population and Development introduced by Senator Miriam Defensor Santiago.

STATED PURPOSE
  • The main concerns of the law, according to the Explanatory Note, is that:
  1. Population of the Philippines makes it the 12th most populous nation in the world today.
  2. The Filipino women’s fertility rate is at the upper bracket of 206 countries.
  3. The Filipinos are responsive to having smaller-sized families through free choice of family planning methods.
  4. Rapid population growth exacerbates poverty while poverty spawns rapid population growth. And so, it aims for improved quality of life through a consistent and coherent national population policy.
The proponents state that RH will mean:
  1. Information and access to natural and modern family planning.
  2. Maternal, infant and child health and nutrition.
  3. Promotion of breast feeding.
  4. Prevention of abortion and management of post-abortion complications.
  5. Adolescent and youth health.
  6. Prevention and management of reproductive infections, HIV, AIDS, and STD.
  7. Elimination of violence against women.
  8. Counseling on sexuality and sexual and reproductive health.
  9. Treatment of breast and reproductive tract cancers.
    1. Male involvement and participation in RH.
    2. Prevention and treatment of infertility.
    3. RH education for the youth.

REPRODUCTIVE LIFE PLANNING

  • A reproductive life plan is a plan for when, how, and whether to have children.
  • Although many people who desire children do so   through childbirth, some adopt children,   become foster parents, or use other   arrangements to achieve their desires such as   co-parenting or surrogacy, but other people   also decide not to have children at all.

  1. TEMPORARY METHODS

    • Natural methods
    • Artificial methods

  2. PERMANENT METHODS

    • Tubal ligation
    • Vasectomy

TEMPORARY METHODS

A. NATURAL - ABSTINENCE

  • The practice of refraining from some or all aspects of sexual activity for medical, psychological, legal, social or religious reasons.
  • The practice of refraining from some or all aspects of sexual activity for medical, psychological, legal, social or religious reasons.

B. NATURAL - STANDARD DAYS METHOD

  • Developed by Georgetown University's Institute for Reproductive Health, the Standard Days Method has a simpler rule set and is more effective than the rhythm method. A product, called CycleBeads, was developed alongside the method to help the user keep track of estimated high and low fertility points during her menstrual cycle. The Standard Days Method may only be used by women whose cycles are always between 26 and 32 days in length. In this system:

    • A. Days 1-7 of a woman's menstrual cycle are considered infertile.

    • B. Days 8-19 are considered fertile; considered unsafe for unprotected intercourse.

    • C. From Day 20, infertility is considered to resume.

    • D. When used to avoid pregnancy, has a perfect-use failure rate of 5% per year.

    • Red bead: first day of period

    • Dark brown bead: tells you that your cycle is shorter than 28 days

    • Brown beads: pregnancy is very unlikely

    • White beads: pregnancy is most likely

C. NATURAL - CERVICAL MUCUS METHOD

  • Also called the ovulation method, Billings ovulation method, or Spinnbarkeit, the cervical mucus method is based on careful observation of mucus patterns during the course of menstrual cycle.

  

  1. Before ovulation it’s thick and does not stretch when pulled between forefinger and thumb.
  2. Just before ovulation, secretion increases.
  3. On the day of ovulation is peak day where it’s copious, thin, watery, transparent, and stretches at least 1 inch before strand breaks.

D. NATURAL - BASAL BODY TEMPERATURE

  • ==Refer to the prescribed textbook!!!==

E. NATURAL - COITUS INTERRUPTUS

  • Also known as the withdrawal or pull-out method, coitus interruptus is a method of birth-control in which a man, during intercourse withdraws his penis from a woman's vagina prior to ejaculation. The man then directs his ejaculate or semen away from his partner's vagina in an effort to avoid insemination.
  • This method of contraception, widely used for at least two millennia, is still in use today. This method was used by an estimated thirty-eight million couples worldwide in 1991.Coitus interruptus does not protect against STDs or STIs and is viewed by medical professionals to be an ineffective method of birth control.

F. NATURAL - LACTATIONAL AMENORRHEA

  • FOR WOMEN TO MEET CRITERIA, LAM is 98% - 99.5%
  • EFFECTIVE DURING THE FIRST 6 MONTH POSTPARTUM:

  

  1. Breastfeeding must be the infant’s only source of nutrition.      Feeding formula, pumping instead of nursing, and feeding solids      all reduce the effectiveness of LAM.
  2. The infant must breastfeed at least every 4 hours during the day      and at least every 6 hours at night.
  3. The infant must be less than 6 months old.
  4. The mother’s menses has not returned.

G. ARTIFICIAL - ORAL PILLS

  • Oral contraceptives are medications taken by mouth for the purpose of birth control. Two types of female oral contraceptive pill are widely available:

  

  1. The combined oral contraceptive pill contains estrogen and a progesterone, and is taken once per day.
  2. The progesterone-only pill contains only progesterone, and is also taken once per day.

H. ARTIFICIAL - DMPA

  • Depot medroxyprogesterone acetate (DMPA) is a progesterone and long acting reversible hormonal contraceptive birth control drug that is injected IM every 3 months. This drug inhibits follicular development and prevents ovulation as its primary mechanism of action.

I. ARTIFICIAL - INTRAUTERINE DEVICE

  • The IUD is a T-shaped object placed in the uterus in order to prevent pregnancy.

    1. COPPER IUD - negatively affecting the mobility of sperm and preventing them from joining with an egg, and additionally, the foreign body inside the uterus irritates the lining and wall making it hard for an embryo to implant.

    2. HORMONAL IUD do not increase bleeding as copper-containing IUDs do, rather, they reduce menstrual bleeding or prevent menstruation altogether, and can be used as a treatment for menorrhagia.

J. ARTIFICIAL - SPERMICIDE

  • A contraceptive substance that eradicates sperm, inserted vaginally prior to intercourse to prevent pregnancy. Spermicides, if combined with contraceptive barrier methods are believed to result in lower pregnancy rates than either method alone. It may be unscented, clear, unflavored, non-staining, and lubricative.

K. ARTIFICIAL - DIAPHRAGM, CERVICAL CAP

  • Protect against pregnancy by covering the cervix and keeps sperm from entering the uterus to meet the egg.
  • These devices must be prescribed and fitted by a healthcare professional and best if used with spermicides.
  • Both devices can be inserted up to 2 hours before sex.
  • The diaphragm can be left in place for up to 24 hours, the cervical cap for up to 48 hours.
  • Protect against pregnancy by covering the cervix and keeps sperm from entering the uterus to meet the egg.
  • These devices must be prescribed and fitted by a healthcare professional and best if used with spermicides.
  • Both devices can be inserted up to 2 hours before sex.
  • The diaphragm can be left in place for up to 24 hours, the cervical cap for up to 48 hours.

L. ARTIFICIAL – CONTRACEPTIVE SPONGE

  • Combines barrier and spermicidal methods to prevent conception and works in two ways:

  

  1. First, the sponge is inserted into the vagina, so it can cover the cervix and prevent any sperm from entering the uterus.
  2. Secondly, the sponge is produced with spermicide already inside of it, which is used to prevent the sperm from moving.

M. ARTIFICIAL – CONDOM

  • A barrier device most commonly used during sexual intercourse to reduce the probability of pregnancy and spreading sexually transmitted diseases such as gonorrhea, syphilis, and HIV.

PERMANENT METHODS

A. TUBAL LIGATION

  • A surgical procedure for sterilization in which a woman's fallopian tubes are clamped and blocked, or severed and sealed, either method of which prevents eggs from reaching the uterus for fertilization. Tubal ligation is considered a permanent method of sterilization, and birth control.

B. VASECTOMY

  • A surgical procedure for male sterilization and birth control. During the procedure, the vas deferens of a man are severed, and then tied or sealed in a manner such to prevent sperm from entering into the seminal stream.

FERTILIZATION PROBLEMS

  • INFERTILITY
    • Pregnancy has not occurred after about 1 year of unprotected coitus.

     1. Primary infertility 2. Secondary infertility

  • STERILITY
    • Inability to conceive because of a known condition.