Growing a family takes planning

Adding a baby to your family should take at least as much thought as buying a home. Most people who are in the market for a new home search for weeks and even months before making a choice. The cost has to fit their budget. The rooms have to be the right size. The kitchen needs plenty of cupboards and the furnace and water heater need to be in good condition.

That much thought goes into buying a home because a home fills such a large role in a family's life. Children play an even larger role in a family's life, but half of all pregnancies - about 3 million - in the United States each year are unplanned.

"Planning when to start a family or add to your family enables people to have babies when they're ready and able to care for them," says Gail Turley, family planning program coordinator for the Panhandle Health District (PHD). "Family planning increases the chances for healthier, happier children and parents."

PHD's family planning services include reproductive health counseling, breast and cervical cancer screening, contraception, pregnancy testing, referrals to local community resources and health education and support. The cost of services is based on income and ability to pay.

Planning when to start or expand a family enables women to continue their educations and careers. Both lead to better self-esteem and psychological well-being, good characteristics in a parent.

Planning also allows people to decide on the size of their families and to space their children to increase their chances for healthy development and a good physical and emotional start to life. Planning helps families expand when they believe they can afford to add a baby into the budget.

U.S. Congress created Title X, the nation's first federal program dedicated to providing family planning services, 30 years ago. Title X provides people with the educational, medical and social services they need to plan their families. Since 1972, family planning clinics, with the support of local and federal funding, have helped scores of women understand the importance of planned pregnancies.

Still, 60 percent of the pregnancies in women between the ages of 20 and 24 are unplanned and 30 percent of girls in the United States get pregnant at least once by age 20. Children born to teen mothers in Idaho cost taxpayers in 2008 $11 million for Medicaid and the Children's Health Insurance Program and $6 million in child welfare. Taxpayers paid another $10 million for the children of teen mothers who, for many different reasons, were incarcerated.

Planning a family makes sense any time, but particularly in tough economic times. Families with fewer and healthier children can more easily provide adequate food, clothing, housing and educational opportunities. Women who plan can protect their health by getting pregnant when their bodies can best support a developing baby. Planned pregnancies improve infant survival rates.

PHD's nurses and nurse practitioners have provided family planning services in the five northern counties for more than 30 years. The PHD office at 8500 N. Atlas Road in Hayden is open Mondays through Fridays. For more information on PHD's family planning services, visit www.phd1.idaho.gov or call (208) 415-5270 for an appointment.

Cynthia Taggart is the public information officer for the Panhandle Health District. She can be reached at ctaggart@phd1.idaho.gov.