Reproductive Health: Important Questions

CBSE Class 12 Biology Reproductive Health Important Questions have been provided in this article along with their detailed solutions as per the latest CBSE Board Curriculum. The article covers the important questions related to the problems and strategies relating to reproductive health, population explosion and birth control, medical termination of pregnancy, sexually transmitted diseases and infertility.

Reproductive Health is a term used to refer to healthy reproductive organs with normal functions. It is a vast concept that not only covers the biological aspect of reproduction but also the emotional as well as social aspects. WHO (World Health Organisation) defines reproductive health as the total well-being in all aspects of reproduction, i.e., physical, emotional, behavioural and social. Therefore, a society in which people have physical and functionally normal reproductive organs and normal psychological and behavioural interactions among them in all sex-related aspects might be called a reproductively healthy society.

Read More: Reproductive Health MCQs

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Very Short Answer Questions (1 Mark Questions)

Ques. What do you understand by the term ‘reproductive health’?

Ans. Reproductive health can be defined as the physical, mental and social well-being of a person or an individual in all the aspects and matters related to the reproductive system, its functions and processes.

Ques. What do you mean by Reproductive tract infections (RTI)? Give two examples of RTIs.

Ans. Reproductive tract infections are diseases or infections which are transmitted through sexual intercourse and are also called sexually transmitted diseases (STD). Example: Gonorrhoea, syphilis.

Ques. What is amniocentesis?

Ans. Amniocentesis is a foetal sex determination test based on the chromosomal pattern in the amniotic fluid surrounding the developing embryo.

Ques. Name an oral contraceptive for females and what is its advantage?

Ans. Saheli is an oral contraceptive for females. Its advantage is that it is a non-steroidal preparation.

Ques. What are some methods to control the present population growth rate in India?

Ans. The present population rate in India can be controlled in the following ways:

• By promoting the use of contraceptives.
• Encouraging couples to adopt family planning.
• Couples that have small families should be provided with incentives.
• By making people aware of the cons of uncontrolled population rise.
• By increasing the age of marriage for boys and girls to 21 years and 18 years respectively.

Ques. What are the characteristics of an ideal contraceptive?

Ans. An ideal contraceptive must be user-friendly, easily available, effective and reversible with the least side effects.

Read More: Contraception

Ques. What is MTP? Why should strict conditions be followed during the MTP procedures?

Ans. MTP stands for medical termination of pregnancy. It is the intentional or voluntary termination of pregnancy before full term. Strict conditions are followed during the MTP procedures in order to:

• To prevent illegal female foeticide.
• To protect individuals from fatal MTP practices.

Ques. List down the components of Reproductive Health.

Ans. There are three essential components of reproductive health:

• Sexual health
• Family planning
• Maternal health

Family Planning

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Short Answer Questions (2 Marks Questions)

Ques. State some benefits of copper ion releasing IUDs.

Ans. Some of the benefits of Copper ions releasing intrauterine devices are:

• It increases phagocytosis of the sperms inside the uterus.
• The copper ions decrease the fertilizing capacity and the motility of the sperms.
• It is a quite safe, economically affordable and convenient method of contraception.

Ques. State the factors that have contributed to the population explosion in India.

Ans. The factors which have led to an explosion in the population of India are:

• A sharp decline in the death rate.
• Reduction in MMR (maternal mortality rate) and IMR ( infant mortality rate).
• An increase in the number of people belonging to the reproductive age.
• Lack of awareness regarding family planning.
• Preference for the male child.
• Poverty.

Ques. What are the benefits that natural contraceptive methods have over artificial methods?

Ans. Some of the benefits of natural contraceptive methods are:

• This method of contraception bears no side effects.
• Unlike the artificial method, the natural method is reversible as it does not involve surgery of any kind.

Ques. Why should there be a statutory ban on amniocentesis in India?

Ans. Amniocentesis is a foetal sex determination test based upon the chromosomal pattern in the amniotic fluid surrounding the developing embryo. It should be banned by the law to curb female foeticides and achieve a normal sex ratio.

Read More: Human Population

Ques. What are STDs? How to prevent them?

Ans. STDs stand for sexually transmitted diseases. These refer to diseases or infections which are transmitted through sexual intercourse. Some of these infections can be spread by sharing injections, surgical instruments etc.

Following are the ways to prevent STDs:

• Avoiding sex with unknown or multiple partners
• Always using condoms during intercourse
• In case of doubt, go to a qualified doctor for timely diagnosis and treatment of the disease.

Ques. In which cases is the medical termination of pregnancy advised by the doctors?

Ans. In case of the following circumstances, the medical termination of pregnancy is advised by the doctors:

• If the pregnancy can have dangerous effects on the health (physical/mental) of the woman.
• If the child to be born is malformed or handicapped.
• If the woman has been raped. 
• The consent of the guardian or parents is required if the girl is unmarried.
• In the case of mentally ill/unstable mothers.

Contraception Methods

Read More: Human Health and Diseases

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Long Answer Questions (3 Marks Questions)

Ques. State some of the advantages as well as disadvantages of hormonal contraceptives.

Ans. The advantages of hormonal contraceptives are:

• Hormonal contraceptives are a very effective method of contraception.
• These contraceptives can be used for a longer duration of time.
• The effects of hormonal contraceptives are reversible

The disadvantages of hormonal contraceptives are: 

• It does not provide any sort of protection against sexually transmitted diseases.
• Minor surgery is involved for the insertion and removal of the contraceptive device.
• It has known to have several side effects such as irregular menstruation, depression, weight gain, hair loss, etc.
• The implanted area possess a risk of infection.

Ques. How does an oral contraceptive pill such as Saheli function?

Ans. Oral administration of small doses of either progestagens or progestagen-estrogen combinations is a contraceptive method used by females.

• They are used in form of pills or tablets.
• These pills are to be taken daily for a period of 21 days starting especially within the first five days of the menstrual cycle. After a gap of 7 days during which menstruation occurs.
• These pills function by inhibiting ovulation and implantation as well as by altering the quality of cervical mucus to prevent/ retard entry of sperms.
• Saheli is a new oral contraceptive pill which is once a week pill with few side effects and high contraceptive value.

Ques. What are ART techniques? Explain any two such techniques.

Ans. ART techniques refer to assisted reproductive technologies. They assist infertile couples to conceive. Two of these techniques are:

• Intracytoplasmic Sperm Injection: ICSI is a sort of specialised procedure wherein one sperm is directly injected into the egg. But this process might affect and may damage the egg.
• Gamete Intrafallopian Tube Transfer (GIFT): This method is used in the case of females who cannot produce viable gametes but have fallopian tubes that are functioning properly. In this technique, the eggs and sperms are inserted into the far end of the fallopian tube either through the vagina or through the abdomen. The female can provide a suitable environment for fertilization.

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Very Long Answer Questions (5 Marks Questions)

Ques. State some crucial steps for improving reproductive health in India.

Ans. Some of the important steps to be taken for improving reproductive health in India are:

• The introduction of sex education in schools should also be encouraged to provide the right information to the young.
• Discourage children from believing in myths and having misconceptions about sex-related aspects.
• Proper information about reproductive organs, adolescence and related changes, safe and hygienic sexual practices, sexually transmitted diseases (STD), and AIDS to be given.
• Focus upon educating people, especially fertile couples and those people who are in the marriageable age group, about available birth control options, post-natal care of the mother and child, care of pregnant mothers, the importance of breastfeeding, and equal opportunities for the male and the female child, etc.
• Awareness of problems due to uncontrolled population growth, and social evils like sex abuse and sex-related crimes are to be provided.

Ques. What do you understand by family planning? Mention some ways of family planning.

Ans. The main purpose of family planning is to prevent the fertilization of the ovum by the sperm and reduce the growth of the population by various methods, such as contraceptives, intrauterine devices, vasectomy, and tubectomy.

• Contraceptives for males and intra-uterine devices and loops for females are used to prevent pregnancy.
• Vasectomy is the method of sterilizing males by surgical operation of the sperm duct or vas deferens.
• Tubectomy can be defined as the method of sterilizing females by the surgical operation of fallopian tubes.
• The health of the persons concerned must be taken care of irrespective of the method involved.
• Late marriage for young persons and increase in the sources of recreation so as to divert the attention from sex.

Read More: Population Control

Ques. Define birth rate, death rate, and fertility rate. What are the aims of the population study?

Ans. The definitions are as follows: 

• Birth Rate: Defined as the number of births per thousand individuals of a population per year. The birth rate increases the population size as well as the population density.
• Death/Mortality Rate: Death Rate is commonly expressed as the number of deaths per thousand individuals of a population per year.
• Fertility Rate: It can be defined as the number of live births in a year per thousand women of reproductive age in a population.

The aims of the population study are:

• Preventing the consequences of uncontrolled population growth such as environmental pollution, depletion of natural resources, extinction of species, etc.
• Reaping benefits of lowering population growth rate to the biosphere.
• Determining growth, distribution, and density of population.
• Establishing relation of population to the standards of life.

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