Family planning in Bangladesh is carried out by government agencies and supported by non-government organisations. The Directorate General of Family Planning is the government agency responsible for family planning in Bangladesh. Marie Stopes Bangladesh is an international NGO that provides family planning services in Bangladesh. In 1975, the population of Bangladesh was 76.3 million, and by 2020 the population had reached 164.7 million. Bangladesh has a fertility rate of 2.01, which, according to

United Nations Population Fund The United Nations Population Fund (UNFPA) is a United Nations System, UN agency aimed at improving reproductive health, reproductive and maternal health worldwide. Its work includes developing national healthcare strategies and protocols, incr ...

, makes it a "low fertility country". Bangladesh has a high population density, with about 1123.85 people per square kilometre. Since independence Bangladesh has reduced its total fertility rate (TFR) to 2.01, which means that women have 2.01 children on average. At this TFR and without migration a country's population is neither growing nor shrinking. Bangladesh family planning programs have been described as being weakened in recent years.

History

In 1950, family planning was introduced by medical volunteers and social workers. In 1965, the

Government of Pakistan The Government of Pakistan () (abbreviated as GoP), constitutionally known as the Federal Government, commonly known as the Centre, is the national authority of the Islamic Republic of Pakistan, a federal republic located in South Asia, con ...

started a family planning program in

East Pakistan East Pakistan was the eastern province of Pakistan between 1955 and 1971, restructured and renamed from the province of East Bengal and covering the territory of the modern country of Bangladesh. Its land borders were with India and Burma, wit ...

. In 1976, the government of Bangladesh declared rapid population growth rate as the nation's number one problem.

Bangladesh Bangladesh, officially the People's Republic of Bangladesh, is a country in South Asia. It is the List of countries and dependencies by population, eighth-most populous country in the world and among the List of countries and dependencies by ...

has experienced rapid population growth since its independence. This was a result of a high fertility rate, increased life expectancy, and a decreasing mortality rate. In 1975, the total fertility rate was 6.3, which by 2011 was reduced to 2.3 according to the data collected by the Bangladesh Demographic Health Survey 2011. The survey found most women have two or more children. It also found that the majority of women in Bangladesh would prefer to have two or less Children. Since 2011 the total fertility rate has remained at 2.3, according to the International Conference on Family Planning, family planning in Bangladesh has not made progress since then. Infant mortality fell from 160,300 in 2000 to 83,100 by 2015 according to ''

The Lancet ''The Lancet'' is a weekly peer-reviewed general medical journal, founded in England in 1823. It is one of the world's highest-impact academic journals and also one of the oldest medical journals still in publication. The journal publishes ...

''. Bangladesh is ranked 7 worldwide in number of

stillbirth Stillbirth is typically defined as fetus, fetal death at or after 20 or 28 weeks of pregnancy, depending on the source. It results in a baby born without vital signs, signs of life. A stillbirth can often result in the feeling of guilt (emotio ...

s. Bangladesh Demographic Health Survey 2014 found that 33% of 15 to 19 year olds were pregnant. Sixty-six percent of the population give birth before age 19. Family Service is supported by UNFPA in Bangladesh.

Underage marriage

According to official government estimates in Bangladesh 65% of girls are married off before their 18th birthday. 60 percent of child brides have children by the time they are 19 and 10 percent of them have children by the time they are 15. Bangladesh's Penal Code places the age of consent at 14, though sex before marriage is frowned upon socially. According to the Child Marriage Restraint Act-2017, a child marriage would be legal in Bangladesh, if it was for the interest of the underage girl and with the consent of the parents.

Fertility

The

total fertility rate The total fertility rate (TFR) of a population is the average number of children that are born to a woman over her lifetime, if they were to experience the exact current age-specific fertility rates (ASFRs) through their lifetime, and they were t ...

was 2.3 children per woman in 2019. The median age at first birth among women of child-bearing age is 18.6 years. 43% of women gave birth before turning 18. The fertility rate has an inverse relationship with the level of education. Women with no education or an incomplete

primary education Primary education is the first stage of Education, formal education, coming after preschool/kindergarten and before secondary education. Primary education takes place in ''primary schools'', ''elementary schools'', or first schools and middle s ...

have an average of 2.6 children, on the contrary women with a secondary education or higher have an average of 2.2 children. In Bangladesh, the median age at first birth among women age 20-49 is 18.6 years. 28% of women age 15-19 have begun childbearing. Childbearing is less common among urban teenagers than among rural teenagers (23% versus 29%).

Contraceptives

The contraceptive

prevalence In epidemiology, prevalence is the proportion of a particular population found to be affected by a medical condition (typically a disease or a risk factor such as smoking or seatbelt use) at a specific time. It is derived by comparing the number o ...

rate is 62% among currently married women aged 15–49. Among them, 52% of women use modern contraceptive methods, and 10% use traditional methods. Oral pill is the most commonly used method (25%). 12% of currently married women in Bangladesh have an unmet need for family planning. Use of modern contraceptives is highest in Rangpur division (59%) and lowest in Chattogram and

Sylhet Sylhet (; ) is a Metropolis, metropolitan city in the north eastern region of Bangladesh. It serves as the administrative center for both the Sylhet District and the Sylhet Division. The city is situated on the banks of the Surma River and, as o ...

divisions (45% each). contraceptive usage is higher among urban couples than among rural couples (65% versus 60%). Half (49%) of modern contraceptive users obtained their method from a private sector like pharmacies, 44% from the public sector, 5% from a nongovernmental organization (NGO), and 1% from another source.

Family planning services

86% of health facilities provided modern family planning services in 2017. But 31% of district hospitals and 75% of private facilities still do not provide family planning methods. Only 1/4th of the facilities provide long-acting reversible contraceptives or permanent methods (LARC/PMs), and even less provide male or female sterilization. Combined or progestin-only oral pills and male condoms (85% each) are the most commonly provided temporary modern methods. More than 60% of facilities provide progestin-only injectables. One-fourth of all facilities provide IUCDs, and a small proportion (6%) offer one or two-rod implants.

References

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Healthcare in Bangladesh Women's rights in Bangladesh