Reproductive Health

Nearly all populations will tend to grow exponentially as long as there are resources available. The formula for exponential population growth is dN/dt = rN. In this equation d is the rate of change, N is the number of existing individuals, r is the intrinsic growth rate, t is time, and dN/dt is the rate of change in population size.

The environmental factors which can check the growth of population size constitute the environmental resistance. These include predators, food, water, nesting sites, similar competitors, etc. All living things tend to reproduce until the point at which their environment becomes a limiting factor. No population, human or otherwise, can grow indefinitely; eventually, some biotic or abiotic variable will begin to limit population growth.

By in vitro fertilization, the ovum is fertilized with sperm outside the body of a woman, providing the ovum with the same environmental conditions as it would have got inside the uterus. The zygote is grown inside a culture and when embryo is formed, it is then implanted into uterus where it develops into foetus and then into a child. This is called test tube baby.

Carrying capacity refers to the maximum number of individuals that can be sustained by the environment. Birth rate refers to number of births per unit population.

Pills also called contraceptive pills contain small doses of either progestogens or progestogenoestrogen combinations. They inhibit ovulation and implantation.

Infertility cases due to inability of the male partner to inseminate the female or due to very low sperm count in the ejaculates, could be corrected by using artificial insemination (AI) technique. In this procedure semen is injected directly into the vagina or uterus.

Copper-T is an intrauterine device (IUD) used by women as a birth control. An IUD is a small device which is placed inside the uterus. The vertical and horizontal arms of the Copper - T contain copper which is slowly released into the uterine cavity. Copper stops sperm from making their way up through the uterus into the tubes, and it reduces the ability of sperm to fertilize the egg. It also prevents a fertilized egg (blastocyst) from successfully implanting in the lining of the uterus if fertilization has occurred.