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In recent years there have been major improvements and numerous new developments in family planning options, which has afforded people with more contraceptive choices to suit their various health and lifestyle needs. Bestmed offers contraceptive benefits for all female beneficiaries of child-bearing age, and these include oral contraceptives/pills, 3-month injection, 6-month injection, the implant and intrauterine device (IUD). This benefit covers up to R2 412 per female beneficiary per year and it is paid for from Scheme risk, not from the member’s savings or day-to-day benefits.

Bestmed understands that family planning extends beyond just wanting to decide when to have a child or managing the size of your family. There are many other benefits to family planning/using contraceptives that extend to health, mental wellbeing and many other socio-economic issues:

• Healthier children and reduced infant mortality
  Family planning can help prevent pregnancies that happen too soon after the previous pregnancy which can lead to poor maternal health and in turn affects the child’s health during pregnancy.  
• Helps reduce teen pregnancy
  Providing adolescents with family planning options empowers them to prevent getting pregnant until they are old enough and more equipped to deal with all the responsibilities that come with having a child.
• Reducing unsafe abortions
  A lack of family planning options can lead people to make desperate decisions to terminate an unwanted pregnancy illegally and having access to family planning options can help prevent this from being someone’s only option. 
• Helps prevent sexually transmitted infections (STIs)
  A contraceptive like a condom can help prevent STIs such as HIV and AIDS during intercourse. Access to family planning can also help avoid unintended pregnancies among women living with HIV, resulting in fewer infected babies.
• Empowers women
  Access to family planning provides women with more control over their reproductive lives which helps them take advantage of education, employment and civic opportunities. Having children and raising children is a big and challenging commitment, so family planning allows women to choose when they can take on this challenge without it possibly affecting their progress in other parts of their lives such as career and personal growth.

If you’re not using your female contraceptive benefit yet, make sure you visit your doctor to find out which contraceptive option is best for you and start your family planning today. To find out about all Bestmed’s preventive care benefits, you can click here to visit the page on our website.

Reference List:

Western Cape Gov: https://www.westerncape.gov.za/general-publication/family-planning-empowering-people-developing-nations

Population Reference Bureau: https://www.prb.org/resources/family-planning-improves-the-economic-well-being-of-families-and-communities/

Family Planning New Zealand: https://www.familyplanning.org.nz/news/2013/benefits-of-contraception-use