Research Department of Reproductive Health, UCL EGA Institute for Women's Health, Faculty of Population Health Sciences, University College London, Room 236 Medical School Building, 74 Huntley Street, London, WC1E 6A, UK.
Faculty of Health, University of Plymouth Devon, Plymouth, UK.
Reprod Health. 2022 Oct 28;19(1):203. doi: 10.1186/s12978-022-01511-w.
The importance of improving men's and women's knowledge of sexual and reproductive health has been emphasised in numerous global health policies. Fertility awareness literature highlights a disproportionately higher number of articles related to pregnancy-prevention compared to pregnancy-planning, which is justifiable in many contexts. However, recent concerted effort to improve fertility-awareness warrants a closer investigation of basic reproductive health terminologies. The objective of this study is to explore participants' views of "family building" and provide a definition.
We conducted 35 qualitative in-depth interviews on men, women and healthcare professionals who were sampled from a UK cross-sectional survey. We asked participants about terms such as 'family planning' and 'family building' to elicit views and explored the appropriateness of the term "family building." Data were transcribed and analysed via Framework analysis.
When asked what 'family planning' meant to them, study participants stated that the term meant the avoidance of pregnancy. They viewed it as an "umbrella term for the use of contraception methods," that "paradoxically, the term family planning almost has a negative connotation regarding having a family," but could not state similar terminology for planning a family. Reasons cited for this perspective include the focus of school education and usage in clinical settings.
In the absence of an explicit definition in literature, we generated a new definition for family building as follows: "Family building refers to the construction or formation of a family, which can include steps or actions taken by an individual towards having children. In contrast to family planning, the intent focuses on pregnancy planning and childbearing rather than pregnancy prevention. However, it can also include actions taken to space the number of children one has." Some balance in the global public health messages, including bridging the gap in reproductive health literature, policies, processes and practices may contribute to the effort to improve fertility knowledge. Use of appropriate terminologies help optimise reproductive health services in order to enable men and women achieve their desired fertility intentions, whatever they may be. Trial registration Not applicable.
提高男性和女性对性健康和生殖健康的认识的重要性在许多全球卫生政策中都得到了强调。生育意识文献强调了与妊娠预防相关的文章数量明显高于与妊娠计划相关的文章数量,这在许多情况下是合理的。然而,最近为提高生育意识而进行的协调努力需要更仔细地研究基本生殖健康术语。本研究的目的是探讨参与者对“家庭建设”的看法并提供定义。
我们对从英国横断面调查中抽取的男性、女性和医疗保健专业人员进行了 35 次定性深入访谈。我们询问了参与者关于“计划生育”和“家庭建设”等术语的看法,以引出他们的观点,并探讨了“家庭建设”一词的适当性。数据通过框架分析进行转录和分析。
当被问及“计划生育”对他们意味着什么时,研究参与者表示,该术语意味着避免怀孕。他们将其视为“避孕药具使用的总称”,“具有讽刺意味的是,计划生育这个术语在拥有家庭方面几乎有一个负面的含义,”但无法为规划家庭提供类似的术语。造成这种观点的原因包括学校教育的重点和临床环境中的使用。
在文献中缺乏明确定义的情况下,我们生成了“家庭建设”的新定义,如下所示:“家庭建设是指家庭的建设或形成,这可以包括个人为生育子女而采取的步骤或行动。与计划生育不同,意图侧重于妊娠计划和生育,而不是妊娠预防。然而,它也可以包括为控制生育数量而采取的行动。”在全球公共卫生信息中取得一些平衡,包括弥合生殖健康文献、政策、流程和实践之间的差距,可能有助于提高生育知识的努力。使用适当的术语有助于优化生殖健康服务,使男性和女性能够实现他们想要的生育意愿,无论他们的意愿是什么。试验注册不适用。