In the last century an all-round development in various fields significantly improved the quality of life of the people. However, the increased healthcare facilities along with better living conditions had an explosive impact on the population growth. Probable reasons for this growth rate are decline in death rate, maternal mortality rate (MMR) and infant mortality rate (IMR). According to the 2011 census the population growth rate (annual %) is still around 1.64 percent. Such a high growth rate could lead to an absolute scarcity of even the basic requirements it means food and shelter and clothing, in spite of significant progress had been made in those areas.
To overcome the problem of population explosion, birth control is the only liable solution. People should be motivated to have smaller families by using various contraceptive methods. Statutory raise of marriageable age of *-he females to 18 and that of males to 21 years, and providing incentives to : juples with smaller families are two of the other measures taken by the 2-:vernment to tackle this problem.
Contraception
The Intentional prevention of conception (fertilization of an egg by a sperm at the beginning of pregnancy) by natural or artificial means is called contraception. Contraceptives prevent pregnancy by interfering with the normal process of the fertilization, ovulation and implantation. There are different kinds of contraceptives that act at different points of the process of conception. An ideal contraceptive should have the following qualities, i) user- friendly, ii) easily available, iii) effective and reversible with no or less side effects and iv) do not affect the sexual life of the user.
A wide range of contraceptive methods are presently available which could be broadly classified as follows. 1. Natural/Traditional methods, 2. Barriers, 3. Intrauterine devices (IUDs), 4. Oral contraceptive pills, 5. Injectables, Implants, Vaginal rings and Skin patches, and 6. Surgical methods
