CHAPTER : 4

REPRODUCTIVE HEALTH
MULTIPLE-CHOICE QUESTIONS

1 The method of directly injecting a sperm into ovum in Assisted Reproductive Technology is called:
a. GIFT
b. ZIFT
c. ICSI
d. ET
2 Increased IMR and decreased MMR in a population will:
a. Cause rapid increase in growth rate
b. Result in decline in growth rate
c. Not cause significant change in growth rate
d. Result in an explosive population
3 Intensely lactating mothers do not generally conceive due to the:
a. Suppression of gonadotropins
b. Hyper secretion of gonadotropins
c. Suppression of gametic transport
d. Suppression of fertillisation
4 Sterilisation techniques are generally fool proof methods of contraception with least side effects. Yet, this is
the last option for the couples because:
i. It is almost irreversible
ii. Of the misconception that it will reduce sexual urge
iii. It is a surgical procedure
iv. Of lack of sufficient facilities in many parts of the country
Choose the correct option:
(a) i and iii (b) ii and iii (c) ii and iv (d) i, ii, iii and iv
5 A national level approach to build up a reproductively healthy society was taken up in our country in:
a. 1950s
b. 1960s
c. 1980s
d. 1990s
6 Emergency contraceptives are effective if used within:
a. 72 hrs of coitus
b. 72 hrs of ovulation
c. 72 hrs of menstruation
d. 72 hrs of implantation
7 Choose the right one among the statements given below:
a. IUDs are generally inserted by the user herself
b. IUDs increase phagocytosis reaction in the uterus
c. IUDs suppress gametogenesis
d. IUDs once inserted need not be replaced
8 Following statements are given regarding MTP. Choose the correct options given below:
i. MTPs are generally advised during first trimester
ii. MTPs are used as a contraceptive method
1il. MTPs are always surgical
iv. MTPs require the assistance of qualifled medical personnel
(a) 11 and 111
 (b) 11 and 111
(c) 1 and Iv
(d) 1 and 11
9 From the sexually transmitted diseases mentioned below, identify the one which does not specifically affect
the sex organs:
a. Syphilis
b. AIDS
c. Gonorrhea
d. Genital warts
10 Condoms are one of the most popular contraceptives becuase of the following reasons:
a. These are effective barriers for insemination
b. They do not interfere with coital act
c. These help in reducing the risk of STDs
d. All of the above
11 Choose the correct statement regarding the ZIFT procedure:
a. Ova collected from a female donor are transferred to the fallopian tube to facilitate zygote formation.
b. Zygote is collected from a female donor and transferred to the fallopian tube
c. Zygote is collected from a female donor and transferred to the uterus
d. Ova collected from a female donor and transferrerd to the uterus
12 The correct surgical procedure as a contraceptive method is:
a. Ovarlectomy
b. Hysterectomy
c. Vasectomy
d. Castration
13 Diaphragms are contraceptive devices used by the females. Choose the correct option from the statements
given below:
i. They are introduced into the uterus
ii. They are placed to cover the cervical region
iii. They act as physical barriers for sperm entry
iv. They act as spermicidal agents
(a) i and ii, (b) i and iii, (c) ii and iii, (d) iii & iv

VERY SHORT ANSWER TYPE QUESTIONS

1 Reproductive health refers only to healthy reproductive functions. Comment.

2 Comment on the Reproductive and Child Health Care programme of the government to improve the
reproductive health of the people.
3 The present population growth rate in India is alarming. Suggest ways to check it.
4 STDs can be considered as self-invited diseases. Comment.
5 Suggest the reproduction-related aspects in which counselling should be provided at the school level.
6 Mention the primary aim of the "Assisted Reproductive Technology" (ART) programme.
7 What is the significance of progesterone-estrogen combination as a contraceptive measure?
8 Strict conditions are to be followed in medical termination of pregnancy (MTP) procedures. Mention two
reasons.
9 Males in whom testes fall to descend to the scrotum are generally infertile. Why?
10 Mention two advantages of lactational amenorrhea as a contraceptive method.
 SHORT ANSWER TYPE QUESTIONS

1 Suggest some important steps that you would recommend to be taken to improve the reproductive health
standards in India.
2 The procedure of GIFT involves the transfer of female gamete to the fallopian tube. Can gametes be
transferred to the uterus to achieve the same result? Explain.
3 Copper ions-releasing IUDs are more efficient than non-medicated methods. Why?
4 What are the probable factors that contributed to population explosion in India?
5 Briefly explain IVFand ET What are the conditions in which these methods are advised?
6 What are the advantages of natural methods of contraception over artificial methods?
7 What are the conditions in which medical termination of pregnancy is advised?
8 Comment on the essential features required for an ideal contraceptive.
9 All reproductive tract infections RTIs are STDs, but all STDs are not RTIs. Justify with example.

LONG ANSWER TYPE QUESTIONS

1 What are the Assisted Reproductive Techniques practised to help infertile couples? Describe any three
techniques.
2 Discuss the mode of action and advantages/disadvantages of hormonal contraceptives.
3 STDs are a threat to reproductive health. Describe any two such diseases and suggest preventive measures.
4 Do you justify the statutory ban on aminocentesis in our country? Give reasons.
5 Enumerate and describe any five reasons for introducing sex education to school-going children.
 Answers and Solutions

Multi choice Question :

1. c
2. c
3. a
4. d
5. a
6. a
7. b
8. c
9. b
10. d
11. b
12. c
13. c

VERY SHORT ANSWER TYPE QUESTIONS

1. Reproductive health refers to a total well-being in all aspects of reproduction i.e., physical, behavioural,
psychological, social and physiological.
2. Creating public awareness regarding reproduction related aspects and providing facilities to build up a healthy
society with added emphasis on the health of mother and child are the basic aims of the RCH programmes.
3. Population growth rate in India can be checked by Educating people about small families and consequences of
over-population. Using birth control measures. Increasing marriageable age.
4. Diseases or infections which are transmitted through sexual intercourse are collectively called Sexually
Transmitted Diseases (STD) or Venereal Diseases (VD) or Reproductive Tract Infections (RTI).
Though all persons are vulnerable to these infections, their incidences are reported to be very high among
persons in the age group of 15-24 years. STDs can be considered as self-invited diseases because one could be
free of these infections by following the simple principles given below
(i) Avoid sex with unknown partners/multiple partners.
(ii) Always use condoms during coitus.
(iii) In case of doubt, one should go to a qualified doctor for early detection and get complete treatment if
diagnosed with disease.

5. 1. Make aware of the sex-related aspect to the young children so that they don’t believe in myths.
2. Information about the sex organs, adolescence, and related changes
3. Creating awareness of problems due to uncontrolled population growth, social evils like sex abuse and sex-
related crimes
4. They must be aware of the basic terminology and the function of their reproductive system.
5. Girls should be made aware of the side effects of taking abortive pills blindly without any prescription.

6. Assisted Reproductive Technology' (ART) is the collection of the certain special techniques. The primary aim of
the ART programme is to assist infertile ccouples to have children through certain special techniques (like
ZIFT, IUT, GIFT, ICSI, AI, etc. ) where corrective treatment is not possible.
7. Progestogens or progestogen-estrogen combinations play an important role in contraception. They are used in
the form of tablets or pills. They inhibit ovulation and hence implantation.
 They are also used by females as injections or implants under the skin. Their mode of action
is similar to that of pills but their effective periods are longer.

8. Medical termination of pregnancy (MTP) or induced abortion is the method of intentional termination of
pregnancy before full term.
Reasons to perform MTP under strict conditions:
Amniocentesis followed by MTP is misused to abort normal healthy female foetus, i.e., female foeticide.
MTP should be performed within the end of the first trimester as it is riskier to be performed in the second
trimester.
MTP performed by the unqualified quacks are not only unsafe but could be fatal for the mother also.
9. If the testes fail to descend to the scrotum, gametogenesis could be inhibited, the process of spermatogenesis
require a marginally lesser ambient temperature than that in the abdominal cavity.
10. The two advantages of lactational amenorrhea as a contraceptive method are mentioned as below
(i) If the mother is breast feeding completely, she would not ovulate, so chances of conception would be low.
(ii) She would not need to use any pill or devices for birth control. So, there will be no side effects.

SHORT ANSWER TYPE QUESTIONS

1. Following measures are needed to be taken to improve the reproductive health standards in India
(i) Providing infrastructural facilities and professional expertise to attain reproductive health.
(ii) Educating people about birth control methods, care of pregnant mothers, importance of breast feeding, safe
and hygienic sexual practices and safeguard against STDs.
(iii) Introduction of sex education in schools to give proper information to the young minds about sex-related
aspects.
(iv) Help of audio-visual and print media to create awareness among people about reproduction related
aspects.
(v) Awareness of problems due to population explosion, social evils like sex-abuse and sex-related crimes.
(vi) Statutory ban on amniocentesis to legally check female foeticides.

2. The procedure of GIFT involves the transfer of female gamete to the Fallopian tube. Gametes cannot be
transferred to the uterus to achieve the same result because the uterine environment is not congenial for the
survival of the gamete. If directly transferred to the uterus they will undergo degeneration or could be
phagocytosed and hence, viable zygote would not be formed.
3. Intra Uterine Devices (IUDs) are inserted in the uterus through vagina and are presently available as the non-
medicated IUDs, copper-releasing IUDs and hormone-releasing IUDs Cu ions-releasing IUDs are more efficient
methods because
i. Cu ions released suppress sperm motility and fertilising capacity of sperms.
ii. It increases phagocytosis of sperms within the uterus.
iii. It is one of the safest. most effective, convenient and least expensive reversible contraceptives available.
iv. It has no systemic effects and can be safely used by breast-feeding women.
4. Following are some factors that have probably contributed to population explosion in India
(i) Ignorance and complete lack of awareness about the ill effects of increasing population especially in rural
regions.

(ii) Poverty and illiteracy

(iii) Social stigmas about girl child and desire to have boy child.
(iv) Decline in death rate.
(v) Decline in maternal and infant mortality rate.
 (vi) Increase in the young, reproductive age population

5. IVF and ET refers to In vitro Fertilisation and Embryo Transfer. Gametes from the male and female are
collected hygienically and induced to fuse in the laboratory set up under simulated conditions. The zygote
formed is collected and is introduced into the uterine region of a host or surrogate mother at an appropriate
time (secretory phase). Early embryos (upto 8 cell) are generally transferred to the fallopian tube whereas
embryos with more than 8 cells are transferred to the uterns.
6. Natural methods of contraceptives are safe and they do not pose any threat in future. But, these methods are
not reliable. In contrast, artificial methods leads to many complications like abdominal pain, hair less or
unwanted facial hair, infection in reproductive tract (due to IUDs), hormonal imbalance, etc. Natural methods
are easy and safe to use, but do not demand any cost and also does not interfere with the sexual drive of
humans.
7. Medical termination of pregnancy is carried out to get rid of unwanted pregnancies. It is also essential when
the foetus is suffering from an incurable disease or when continuation of the pregnancy could be harmful or
even fatal to the mother and/or foetus.
8. Contraceptives are devices, drugs or methods that serve to prevent pregnancy.
Features of an ideal contraceptive ;
An ideal contraceptive should have the following features :
 User friendly
 Easy to use
 Cause least side effects
 Cost effective
 Easily available
 Reversible
Not interfere with the sexual drive and sexual act

9. Among the common STs-gonorrhea, syphilis, genital herpes, chlamydiasis, hepatitis-B, AIDs etc., hepatitis-B,
and AIDs are not infections of the reproductive organs though their mode of transmission could be through
sexual contact also. All other diseases are transmitted through sexual contact and are also infections of the
reproductive tract.
LONG ANSWER TYPE QUESTIONS

1. ART techniques are described as follows

(i) Test-tube Baby Programmes In this method, ova from the wife/donor (female) and the sperms from the
husband/donor (male) are collected and are induced to form zygote under simulated conditions in the
laboratory. This process is called In Vitro Fertilisation (IVF). The zygote or early embryo with upto 8
blastomeres is transferred into the Fallopian tube (process is called Zygote Intra Fallopian Transfer or ZIFT)
and embryo with more than 8 blastomeres is transferred into the uterus (process is called Intra Uterine
Transfer or IUT). In females who cannot conceive, embryos formed by fusion of gametes within the female
(called in vivo fertilisation) are transferred.
(ii) Gamete Intra Fallopian Transfer (GIFT) It is the 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
fertilisation and further development of the embryo.
(iii) Artificial Insemination (Al) In this method, the semen collected either from the husband or a healthy
donor is artificially introduced into the vagina or into the uterus (Intra Uterine Insemination or IUI).
This technique is used in cases where the male is unable to inseminate sperms in the female reproductive tract
or due to very low sperm counts in the ejaculation.
2. Hormonal contraceptives are hormonal preparations such as small doses of either progestogens or
progestogen-estrogen combinations used by females.
 Mode of action
Mode of action of hormonal contraceptives is as follows:
 They work by inhibiting ovulation.
 They inhibit implantation if fertilisation has already happened.
 They change the quality of the mucus present in the cervix and slow down the movement of sperms in the
female reproductive tract.
Advantages :
The advantages of hormonal contraceptives are as follows:
 They are widely accepted by women and easily available.
 They have very low failure rates.
 They do not interfere with sexual intercourse.
Disadvantages:
The disadvantages of hormonal contraceptives are as follows:
 They are hormonal preparations. Hence, they affect the hormonal levels in the female which can result in
disturbances in the menstrual cycle, acne, mood swings etc.
 They have side effects such as vaginal irritations.
They need to be taken within 72 hrs of unprotected coitus after which it is not effective in preventing
pregnancy.

3. Diseases or infections which are transmitted through sexual intercourse are collectively called Sexually
Transmitted Diseases (STDs) or Venereal Diseases (VD) or Reproductive Tract Infections (RTI).
Though all persons are vulnerable to these infections, their incidences are reported to be very high among
persons in the age group of 15-24 years. STDs can be considered as self-invited diseases.
STDs include gonorrhoea, syphilis, genital herpes, chlamydiasis, genital warts, trichomoniasis, hepatitis-B, HIV.
These diseases may cause some complications Pelvic Inflammatory Diseases (PID), abortions, still births,
ectopic pregnancies, infertility, or even cancer of the reproductive tract.
Hepatitis-B and HIV are such diseases that get transmitted by the following ways besides sexual contacts
(i) Sharing of injection needles or surgical instruments with infected persons.
(ii) Transfusion of infected blood.
(iii) Transfer from infected mother to the foetus through placenta.
Preventive Measures
By following simple principles, STDs can be prevented
(i) Avoid sex with unknown partners/multiple partners.
(ii) Always use condoms during coitus.
(iii) Contact a qualified doctor for any doubt in early stage of infection.
4. Yes, the ban is necessary because amniocentesis is misused now-a-days. It is used to determine the sex of the
foetus and in many cases it led to female foeticide. It became so serious that it disturbed the male female ratio
that can have a negative impact on society.
The test is actually meant to determine the genetic defects or metabolic in foetus by doing a chromosomal
analysis. In such extreme cases that would be incurable, a decision to abort the foetus could be taken.
5. The reasons for introducing sex education to school-going children are as follows
(i) At school level, children from age group 12 and above should be counselled for reproductive system,
processes and practices and importance of safe and responsible sex.
(ii) Sex related issues and problems like adolescence changes, menstrual cycle, menstrual problems, unwanted
pregnancy, unsafe abortion, reproductive tract infections (STDs) and cancers.
(iii) They should know about body changes during their age and taught about healthy habits including personal
cleanliness and hygiene.
(iv) Students should become part of such education, so that they overcome hesitation and gain confidence to
discuss any query with their teacher or parents.
(v) Counselling and awareness regarding reproductive organs, safe and hygienic sexual practices will play an
important role to make people reproductively healthy.