📝 Chapter Notes & Revision

Reproductive Health

🏫 MP BoardClass 12Biology

📐 Formula & Cheat Sheet (English)

Quick Revision Notes

Class 12 Biology: Reproductive Health

MP Board (NCERT Curriculum)

1. Introduction to Reproductive Health

  • Definition: According to the World Health Organization (WHO), reproductive health means a total well-being in all aspects of reproduction—physical, emotional, behavioural, and social.
  • Significance: A reproductively healthy society has people with physically and functionally normal reproductive organs and normal emotional and behavioural interactions among them.

2. Population Explosion and Birth Control

  • Causes of Population Growth: Decline in death rate (mortality rate), maternal mortality rate (MMR), and infant mortality rate (IMR), along with an increase in the number of people in reproducible age.
  • Measures to Control: Use of various contraceptive methods to prevent unwanted pregnancies.

Ideal Contraceptive Characteristics:

  • User-friendly
  • Easily available
  • Effective and reversible with least or no side effects
  • Should not interfere with sexual drive/desire

3. Methods of Contraception

A. Natural / Traditional Methods

Avoidance of chances of ovum and sperm meeting.

  1. Periodic Abstinence: Couples avoid coitus from day 10 to 17 of the menstrual cycle when ovulation is expected.
  2. Withdrawal / Coitus Interruptus: The male partner withdraws his penis from the vagina just before ejaculation to insemination.
  3. Lactational Amenorrhea: Absence of menstruation during intense lactation following parturition (childbirth). Effective up to 6 months post-partum.

B. Barrier Methods

Prevents physical meeting of ovum and sperm.

  1. Condoms: Barriers made of thin rubber/latex sheath used to cover penis in males or vagina/cervix in females (e.g., Nirodh). Also helps protect against STIs.
  2. Diaphragms, Cervical Caps, and Vaults: Barrieres made of rubber inserted into the female reproductive tract to cover the cervix during coitus.
  3. Spermicides: Creams, jellies, and foams usually used along with barriers to increase contraceptive efficiency.

C. Intra Uterine Devices (IUDs)

Inserted by doctors/expert nurses into the uterus through vagina.

  1. Non-medicated IUDs: Lippes loop (phagocytose sperms within the uterus).
  2. Copper-releasing IUDs: CuT, Cu7, Multiload 375 (Copper ions suppress sperm motility and fertilizing capacity).
  3. Hormone-releasing IUDs: Progestasert, LNG-20 (Make the uterus unsuitable for implantation and cervix hostile to sperms).

D. Oral Contraceptive Pills (OCPs)

  • Consists of small doses of either progestogens or progestogen-estrogen combinations.
  • Mechanism: Inhibits ovulation and implantation as well as alters the quality of cervical mucus to prevent/retard entry of sperms.
  • Examples: Saheli (once-a-week pill, non-steroidal, developed by CDRI, Lucknow).

E. Injectables and Implants

  • Progestogens alone or in combination with estrogen used by females as injections or implants under the skin. Their mode of action is similar to that of pills.

F. Surgical Methods (Sterilization)

Terminal methods to prevent any more pregnancies.

  1. Vasectomy: A small part of the vas deferens is removed or tied up through a small incision on the scrotum in males.
  2. Tubectomy: A small part of the fallopian tube is removed or tied up through a small incision in the abdomen or through vagina in females.

4. Medical Termination of Pregnancy (MTP)

  • Definition: Intentional or voluntary termination of pregnancy before full term is called Medical Termination of Pregnancy (MTP) or induced abortion.
  • Legal Status: MTPs were legalized in India in 1971 with some strict conditions to avoid misuse (amended in 2021).
  • Safe Period: Safe during the first trimester (up to 12 weeks of pregnancy). Second-trimester abortions are much riskier.

5. Sexually Transmitted Infections (STIs)

  • Infections or diseases transmitted through sexual intercourse are collectively called Sexually Transmitted Infections (STIs) or Venereal Diseases (VDs) or Reproductive Tract Infections (RTIs).
  • Common STIs:
    • Gonorrhoea (Bacterial)
    • Syphilis (Bacterial)
    • Genital Herpes (Viral)
    • Chlamydiasis (Bacterial)
    • Genital Warts (Viral)
    • Trichomoniasis (Protozoan)
    • Hepatitis-B (Viral)
    • HIV / AIDS (Viral - incurable)
  • Note: Except for Hepatitis-B, genital herpes, and HIV, other diseases are completely curable if detected early and treated properly.

6. Infertility and Assisted Reproductive Technologies (ART)

  • Infertility: Inability to produce children despite unprotected sexual co-habitation.

Assisted Reproductive Technologies (ART):

  1. Test Tube Baby Programme:
    • In Vitro Fertilization (IVF): Fertilization outside the body in almost similar conditions as in the body.
    • Embryo Transfer (ET):
      • Zygote Intra Fallopian Transfer (ZIFT): Transfer of zygote or early embryo (upto 8 blastomeres) into the fallopian tube.
      • Intra Uterine Transfer (IUT): Transfer of embryos with more than 8 blastomeres into the uterus.
  2. Gamete Intra Fallopian Transfer (GIFT): Transfer of an ovum collected from a donor into the fallopian tube of another female who cannot produce one, but can provide suitable environment for fertilization and development.
  3. Intracytoplasmic Sperm Injection (ICSI): A laboratory procedure in which a single sperm is injected directly into the ovum.
  4. Artificial Insemination (AI): The semen collected either from the husband or a healthy donor is artificially introduced either into the vagina or into the uterus (IUI - Intra-Uterine Insemination) of the female.