Family welfare programme in India

Family welfare:

During the postnatal period, the mother is advised about the temporary and permanent family planning methods. The midwife should motivate the mother to adapt to contraception.

Family welfare programme in India:

National Family Welfare Programme in India has been started from 1975. It comprises of five components.

1.     Maternal and child health care.

2.     Immunization of pregnant women by tetanus toxide (TT) and that of children by BCG, oral polio, DPT and measles.

3.     Nutritional supplement. Iron and folic acid tablets to pregnant women, Vitamin A supplements to children.

4.     Education and distribution of spacing contraceptives (condom, contraceptive pills, intrauterine contraceptive devices and other chemical methods etc).

5.     Motivating for voluntary surgical contraception. (tubectomy for female and vasectomy for male)

6.     Health education on primary health care.

7.     Medical  termination  of  pregnancy  (MTP)  service  is  also

8.     available from 1972 onwards throughout the country as a health measure for protection of women' s health against criminal abortion.

Reproductive Child Health:

Now the family welfare services are modified as Reproductive Child Health Programme. RCH services include maternal and child health services including family planning, adolescent health, identification of reproductive tract infections and their treatment , screening for malignant changes affecting the reproductive organs etc

Legal aspects in midwifery:

1.Medical termination of pregnancy act (MTP act) 1971, which has iberalized abortion, permits abortion under the following conditions. Where the pregnancy is a risk to the life of the mother.

1.     Risk to the life of the fetus.

2.     Cause is due to rape

3.     due to contraceptive failure.

4.     social cause

5.     economic cause

6.     Eugenic cause

2.Identification of the sex of the baby in the uterus and revealing is unethical and illegal.