"The family helper team has a strategic role in educating the public about the importance of family planning programs for couples of childbearing age," BKKBN head Hasto Wardoyo said at the launch of Halo KB, an innovative program for population control by Palu city government, in Palu on Thursday.
The family planning campaign should be promoted extensively among the public by the government, integrated service post cadres, and family helper teams assisting prospective brides and couples of childbearing age, he added.
The Halo KB program initiated by the Palu Population Control and Family Planning Office is one of the innovations for providing services to postpartum women as part of efforts to build strong families, he said.
"People are not prohibited from having more children, but it would be better if the interval (between each birth) is arranged so that there is a maturation process, of which the ideal interval is about three years," Wardoyo added.
If the spacing between childbirths is too close, it can lead to the risk of childhood stunting, he explained.
Therefore, in order to regulate the spacing of pregnancies, the government is offering a solution through family planning. There are several types of family planning methods, ranging from pills, injections, implants, and contraceptives, among others, which can be selected by women of childbearing age.
In addition, family helpers need to campaign for the prevention of early marriage by educating people, he said.
At the time of marriage, women must be 21 years old and men 25 since, according to medical knowledge, those are the ages at which their reproductive systems are healthy, he informed.
He also requested that, through the Halo KB program, preventive measures be taken, including ensuring that postpartum women or breastfeeding mothers participate in family planning programs by adjusting the interval between their first and second pregnancies.
"Of course, with this program, the goal is to build a better future for the nation through the preparation of superior human resources (HR) who are free from stunting," he added.
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Translator: Mohamad Ridwan, Mecca Yumna
Editor: Azis Kurmala
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