Introduction

Family planning allows individuals and couples to anticipate and attain their desired number of children and the spacing and timing of their births. It is achieved through the use of contraceptive methods and the treatment of involuntary infertility.

A woman's ability to space and limit her pregnancies has a direct impact on her health and well-being as well as on the outcome of each pregnancy and hence contributes to the nation‘s social and economic development. Ethiopia, like most countries in sub-Saharan Africa, is experiencing rapid population growth.

Ethiopia's current population is estimated at 85 million, second most populous country in Africa and will reach 174 million by 2050 to become the 9th largest country in the world preventing any gain in the national development effort.

High fertility and rapid population growth have an impact on the overall socio-economic development of the country in general and maternal and child health in particular.Widespread access to family planning services is essential to population stabilisation. The health of mothers, children and general quality of life is also improved through the implementation of family planning programmes.

In this study session, you will learn about the problems resulting from having many children, the impact on the health of mothers and children, population size and growth and its consequences, population pressures on the environment, the benefits of family planning, and the current family planning programmes in Ethiopia.