Any Adverse Effects Of Women's Contraceptive Use On Their Future Children? By Elysiana Canlas At Isnare.com Ezine Articles

There are hardly any studies that have found a significant relationship between a woman’s contraceptive use history and her child’s future health condition. While it is generally accepted that changes in a woman’s fertility behavior could have serious effects on her child’s chances of survival, research on the exact causal relationships existing between pre-pregnancy contraceptive use and the infant’s health is limited.

For one, intrauterine devices (IUD’s) have been found to increase the risks of women having perforations in their womb. IUD’s are small devices inserted through the cervix by a healthcare provider that prevents fertilization and implantation by inducing an environment that is hostile to the sperm. Although empirical tests have not been able to prove it yet, these supposed complications from using IUD’s could possibly result to very difficult pregnancies that could put an infant’s survival during his first months at a high risk.

On the other hand, birth control pills have been said to cause deformities among babies who were still conceived despite regular contraceptive use. Birth control pills are taken regularly to prevent the egg from ovulating. Although plausible, the notion that using pills could cause deformities among newborns could very well be dismissed as hearsay as no actual studies have been done yet to support it. Deformities could be caused by several other factors including genetic distortions and the mother’s unhealthy lifestyle. Pills could be the least important contributor to it. The notion could have just sprung from the intuitive fact that this method actually involves ingesting foreign substances such as estrogen and progestogen that, by its nature, poses a greater potential for exhibiting serious side-effects.

The fact is that the use contraceptive pills actually reduce the risk of iron-deficiency among women. This, of course, is a good thing since iron is essential in a child’s growth and development and unborn babies share with their mother’s nutrient intake.

What have been widely studied already are the complications that using birth control pills could inflict on a woman. These include the risk of experiencing blood clots that can lead to a stroke, heart attack, impaired vision, and even blindness. The pills may also trigger a rise in a woman’s blood pressure, headaches, breast swelling, weight gain, irregular bleeding, and depression. How these affect the health of a woman’s future child has yet to be known. It is not wise to infer that the side-effects that women are prone to would be the same side-effects that their future children would be subject to.

As to other contraceptive methods that merely bar the sperms from reaching the egg cells such as latex condoms, diaphragms, and cervical caps, they have practically no side-effects on women and on their future children. This also holds true for the periodic abstinence method (also called the “rhythm method”) where sexual intercourse is merely scheduled by observing various changes in a woman’s body based on her ovulation cycle.

If anything, a woman’s contraceptive use pattern reveals a lot of things about her concern for the long-term consequences of her actions and how she values planning in her life. While the explanations given above show no direct connection between a woman’s contraceptive use history and her child’s well-being, it could have important implications on how a woman would make decisions as a mother in the future. A woman who has a keener sense of planning is more likely to prepare healthy meals for her children; practice proper hygiene; and express greater value for education – all of which contribute to a child’s well-being.

Perhaps the point to be made here is that the adverse effects of mothers’ contraceptive use history on infants’ health vary from case to case and are very unpredictable. This underscores the need to get a physician’s advice first before using any contraceptive method (aside from condoms) to know one’s best option. Moreover, it highlights the importance of having a doctor’s supervision during the critical periods of pregnancy to prevent or minimize the possible complications for the unborn child that the mother’s previous contraceptive use may have caused.

Published At: Isnare Free Articles Directory http://www.isnare.com
Permanent Link: http://www.isnare.com/?aid=48006&ca=Womens+Interest

Important Notice DISCLAIMER: All information, content, and data in this article are sole opinions and/or findings of the individual user or organization that registered and submitted this article at Isnare.com without any fee. The article is strictly for educational or entertainment purposes only and should not be used in any way, implemented or applied without consultation from a professional. We at Isnare.com do not, in anyway, contribute or include our own findings, facts and opinions in any articles presented in this site. Publishing this article does not constitute Isnare.com's support or sponsorship for this article. Isnare.com is an article publishing service. Please read our Terms of Service for more information.