FAMILY LIFE EDUCATION

INTRODUCTION

 Family life Education is an education in values and relationships.

 The individual lives in a family or community of persons where life
consists of a series of inter- relationships
 It is preparing young people to live a full and harmonious life by giving
them the knowledge and skills to develop satisfying and stable
relationships and a sound system of values.

DEFINITION

Family life education refers to those educational concepts and experiences that
influence attitudes towards family living, personal relationships and sexual
development” (Dept. of Education, Virginia)

MEANING

 Family life Education is a broad and flexible field.

 It contributes to the total growth and well being of the family – physical,
mental, emotional, economic and spiritual –can be included under the
umbrella of family life education.
 Family life education has its roots in many disciplines including
sociology, social work, psychology, anthropology, biology, Education,
history

OBJECTIVES

 To inculcate a sound system of values with correct priorities.

 To help the youth to acquire in the process of growing up, the skills
necessary to develop and maintain satisfying and stable relationships.
 To help the problem student to adjust better to home and college
situations
  To establish as part of the syllabus a meaningful course in family life
education, marriage and vocation and responsible parenthood.
 To set up a referral system for health, for study and personal problems,
in other words, a counseling cell.
 To establish a meaningful rapport with students, staff and
administration which will make the college a community in the fullest
sense of the word

AIMS OF FAMILY LIFE EDUCATION

 Family Life Education aims to supplement the education given by the

family, especially by the parents in the home.
 It aims to develop a good character or personality in the growing
adolescent.
 It seeks to provide the youth with a good moral and spiritual code,
conducive to health living.
 Wherever parents abdicate their responsibility due to various reasons,
Family life Education will seeks to fill this gap in the school or college.
 Whenever needed and feasible, parent education through counseling and
other means can be attempted.

FAMILY LIFE CYCLE

1. Bearing families: The married partners are learning to live with each other
for the first time. Differences are found to appear from time to time and
couple should iron them out and establish meaningful marriage.
2. Child bearing families: Couples enter first conception. With the Coming of
a child, finance, leisure time, entertainment, privacy will change. Proper
child care becomes important. Attention is diverted or shared between new
comer and the spouse.
3. Families with pre – school children: Parents need to cater for the critical
needs and interests of pre – school children to stimulate their growth and
 development. By this time parents think about the question of having or
not having more children.
4. Families with school children: Families with school going children have
to pay attention to the child’s education and growth needs. The parents are
also expected to collaborate with the demands and expectations of the
school in helping the child in studies and in development aspects.
5. Families with adolescents: Adolescents have special problems that need
the help of parents and this stage can be very crucial for them and their
children. As the teenagers approach adulthood parents must ensure a
balance between freedom and responsibility by helping their children to
plan and then to execute the plans will be beneficial and productive in
various life situations.
6. Families as launching centers: After the young adults have gone into
work or studies, parents begin to feel a certain sense of loneliness. It is
often referred to as ‘the empty nest syndrome’. At the same time they also
have the need to maintain a supportive home base for the children.
7. Families in the middle years: This is a trying time for a couple who have
to adjust to a different life again away from the children and away from
work. At this stage that hobbies are developed earlier in life can keep their
occupied during the time after retirement.
8. Families in the late years: The family members need to learn to cope with
problem and living alone at this stage. Society’s expectations will keep
children away from the concerns of aged parents very often helpers like
home nurses may have to provide the required services to the parents.
CLINICAL EXAMPLES OF PERINATAL ETHICAL DILEMMAS

 Court-ordered treatment
 Withdrawal of life support
 Harvesting of fetal organs or tissue
 In vitro fertilization and decisions for disposal of remaining fertilized ova
 Allocation of resources in pregnancy care during the previable period
 Foetal surgery
 Treatment of genetic disorders or fetal abnormalities found on prenatal
screening
 Equal access to prenatal care
 Maternal rights versus foetal rights
 Extraordinary medical treatment for pregnancy complications
 Using organs from an anencephalic infant
 Genetic engineering
 Cloning
 Surrogacy
 Drug testing in pregnancy
 Sanctity of life versus quality of life for extremely premature or severely
disabled infants
 Substance abuse in pregnancy
 Borderline viability: to resuscitate or not
 Fetal reduction
 Preconception gender selection

Ethical issues and challenges in maternal and child health nursing

Abortion
One concept- The right of any woman to make decisions about her reproductive
functions based on her own moral and ethical beliefs on the other way abortion
is murder and deprives the fetus of the basic right to life. Both sides will
continue to debate this very emotional issue for years to come.
Foetal therapy
Intrauterine foetal surgery is a procedure that involves opening the uterus
during pregnancy, performing a surgery, and replacing the foetus in the
uterus.[28] Although the risks to the foetus and the mother are both great,
foetal therapy may be used to correct anatomic lesions.
Some argue that medical technology should not interfere with nature, and thus
this intervention should not take place.
Others would argue that the surgical intervention improves the child’s quality
of life.
Informed consent
Confidentiality
In maternal and child health care, information is shared only with the client,
legal partner, parents, legal guardians, or individuals as established in writing
by the client or the child’s parents
Selective reduction
Induced ovulation and invitro fertilization sometimes results in multifetal
pregnancies. If the number of exceeds the woman's ability to carry them to the
point where they can survive outside the uterus, physician may recommend
selectively terminating one or more foetuses. In these situations, the ethical
dilemmas are much the same as they are for abortion.

Intrauterine treatment of fetal conditions

Advances in intrauterine diagnosis of foetal malformations have led to new,

albeit still experimental, development in intrauterine fetal surgery aimed at
improving foetal outcomes. These new treatments raised ethical and legal
questions about maternal vs fetal rights. Who has the right to give consent?
Can a court of law overrides the mother's wish if she says ''no''? Similar ethical
dilemma arise during labour if a mother refuses caesarian section although it
is clearly (in the judgment of the health care provider) in the best interest of her
fetus.

Mandated contraception
Fetal injury
If a mother’s actions cause injury to her fetus, the question of whether she

should be restrained or prosecuted has legal and ethical implications.

Infertility treatment

Infertility treatment Perinatal technology has found ways for some previously

infertile couples to bear children. Many techniques are more successful, but

ethical concerns include the high cost and overall low success of some

infertility treatments.

Ref….Aderemi R.A. Ethical Issues in Maternal and Child Health Nursing:

Challenges Faced By Maternal and Child Health Nurses and Strategies for
Decision Making. International Journal of Medicine and Biomedical Research
Volume 5 Issue 2 May – August 2016