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RESPONSIBLE PARENTHOOD, THE HEALTH , EDUCATION AND EMPOWERMENT OF WOMEN AND SUSTAINABLE DEVELOPMENT.
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The World Organization of the Ovulation Method, (Billings) better known as WOOMB International Incorporated, is a long established, fully functional NGO that has been accredited to the Mexico City 1984 conference and to ICPD 1994.
It has official affiliates in 44 countries, but because of the appeal the Method has to women, the BOM is taught on a woman to woman basis in more counties than those enjoying membership of the U.N.
As families migrate, so do those who have adopted the Method. Women, who are the best teachers of the Method, teach each other. Mothers teach their daughters, couples teach other couples. Men can also become excellent teachers. The movement to spread the Method is a dynamic one, little impeded by lack of financial support.
It is impossible to accurately determine the total number of those who have adopted the Method, but in 1987 it was reliably estimated that 50 million couples in every continent, on both sides of what was then the Iron Curtain, were practising the Method.
There are some who believe it is a religious, or even a Catholic method, because it has enjoyed the support of the Catholic Church, together with those other methods of family planning which make no attempt to interfere with the transmission of life but utilize a knowledge of the rhythmic female cycle of fertility and infertility.
There is no such thing as Catholic ovaries, nor Communist ovaries, nor black, brown or yellow ones. It is not even a uniquely Christian method, being equally attractive to Muslims, Hindus, animists or atheists. In Australia, where the Method was developed and promoted by the Drs. Billings, who were appropriately honoured by the Australian government for their contribution to public health, it is taught to all and sundry, about 70% of those presenting having abandoned a smorgasbord of contraceptive methods. They come looking for an effective, harmless, alternative. Increasingly they are in search of a solution to their infertility, often the result of a previous lifestyle which took little account of the risks of sexual promiscuity whether so called “safe sex†is practised or not.
The Ovulation Method has so much to offer ICPD 1994, being acceptable to all sides debating the final draft document. Its basic philosophy is that of responsible parenthood, and the promotion of stable, happy families by the cooperation and communication of the couple which its successful practise requires.
It is cheap and will drive the donors’ dollar so much further. Highly skilled health professionals are not essential for its promotion although their input is always welcome. It is educational, putting women in charge of their destiny by providing them with scientifically accurate knowledge of their fertility, teaching them how to recognize it and how to utilize it. It calls also for the cooperation of men, encouraging them to foster their partner’s health and the health and welfare of their children and to accept the true responsibilities of fatherhood. The knowledge and the security it brings lifts the woman’s self esteem, her status and inevitably her empowerment.
The contribution to the stability of a nation by stable, contented families cannot be challenged, setting the scene for orderly and progressive development. Extra-domestic employment for women cannot be manufactured out of thin air in developed countries let alone for those in countries with only nascent economies. In either case a basic requirment is a healthy woman insured by the availability of good primary health care.
Women in developing cuntries where primary health care is virtually non-existent need not only good pre-natal care, safe delivery and good post-natal care but good pre-conceptional care.
WOOMB International Inc. is in a unique position to contribute to all these factors essential for sustainable development. We stand ready to put our worldwide network at the service of the international community to assist in implementing those excellent initiatives which comprise the bulk of the content of the final draft document. While maintaining our philosphical autonomy we look forward to cooperating where our expertise can best contribute - in promoting responsible parenthood and the education, health and empowerment of women, setting a sound foundation for sustainable development.
Dr. Kevin Hume. (R.I.P.)
Secretary, WOOMB International Inc.