**3. The present**

Currently, among women of reproductive age worldwide, the vast majority need family planning. Women that have an unmet need for contraception greatly outnumber these using contraceptive methods [16, 17].

Access to contraceptive methods advances health and other social benefits, especially when births are separated by 2 years or more [18].

The demand for family planning has been on the increase. It is estimated that over one billion women are current users with a contraceptive prevalence rate of about 50% [19].

There has been a slow increase in the proportion of women of reproductive age who have their need for family planning satisfied by modern contraceptive methods. Reasons for this include various barriers such as difficulty accessing services by the

### *Introductory Chapter: Family Planning: Past, Present, and Future DOI: http://dx.doi.org/10.5772/intechopen.104217*

young and poor, limited choice of methods, fear of side effects, bias against some methods, cultural or religious opposition, poor quality, and limited access to services [19].

The various methods of contraception are classified by their effectiveness as commonly used by the number of pregnancies per 100 women as very effective (0–0.9), effective (1–9), moderately effective (10–19), and less effective (20 or more), as follows [20]:

