ACCESS-FP Director's letter
Postpartum family planning counseling gives women more choices
Country spotlight: Nigeria
Tools and resources
Dear Colleagues:
 This ACCESS Update focuses on postpartum family planning (PPFP) and, specifically, the work done through ACCESS-FP, an associate award to the ACCESS Program.
In the context of maternal, newborn and child health, family planning is a life-saving intervention that could avert 32% of maternal deaths and at least 10% of childhood deaths in countries with high fertility rates (Campbell and Graham, 2006). PPFP is a subset of family planning and is tailored to the needs of women in their first year postpartum who are generally breastfeeding and often amenorrheic. Because of these factors, and also due to cultural patterns that assume postpartum abstinence, women and providers frequently underestimate the risks of unintended pregnancy during this period.
PPFP includes specific information on fertility return, the lactational amenorrhea method, promotion of exclusive breastfeeding, the appropriate timing and use of contraceptive methods, and the health benefits of waiting at least two years after the birth of the last baby before trying to conceive again. PPFP information and services are designed to be delivered as part of routine maternal and newborn health services—an important distinction, as it is through these routine services that most women have contact with health providers and may represent a unique opportunity to learn about family planning and receive individual services.
While over 90% of new mothers report they do not want another pregnancy in the next two years, in many countries one-third of births occur within that timeframe. As one postpartum woman in Northern Nigeria recently told me, “I’ve been waiting for someone to talk to me about this. I’ve heard of FP, but I haven’t had the chance to discuss with anyone before.”
Our call to action could not be more clear.
Catharine McKaig
Director, ACCESS-FP
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Postpartum family planning counseling gives women more choices
 Through the ACCESS-FP program, health care providers and mothers in Albania are becoming increasingly aware of ways to prevent unplanned pregnancy. In a country where modern contraception was legalized as recently as 1992, and less than 10% of women use such a method, nurses and midwives are now being trained by ACCESS-FP to counsel new mothers on healthy spacing of pregnancies and what contraceptive methods are available to postpartum women.
“The first days after childbirth are very important,” says Norilda, a 24-year old mother nursing her newborn at the Queen Geraldine Maternity Hospital in Tirana, an ACCESS-FP supported facility. “You don’t know many things, you are unsure, and you need the advice of midwives. I did not use contraceptives before, but now I will be reading more, and will use a lactational amenorrhea method (LAM)[1] not to get pregnant, because I want to take good care of my daughter.”
Learn more 
[1] A very reliable contraceptive method based on breastfeeding.
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Nigeria:
Increasing use of high-quality emergency obstetric, newborn and family planning services
 With funding from USAID/Nigeria, ACCESS designed and is implementing a three and half-year program focused on increasing the use of high-quality emergency obstetric, newborn care (EmONC) and family planning services in three Nigerian states. Beginning with two local government authorities (LGAs) in two states the first year and expanding to additional LGAs and states over time, ACCESS is contributing to the reduction of maternal and neonatal mortality, as well as USAID' s strategic objective 13: Increased Use of Child Survival and Reproductive Health Services.
Learn more |
Take a moment to visit the "Publications and Other Materials" section of the ACCESS Web site to review these new materials:
Comprehensive Postpartum Family Planning Care Training Course for Providers
Three-day training to orient providers on the provision of high-quality postpartum care, including family planning. Designed to be complimentary to other maternal and newborn health packages, the training contains counseling checklists, role plays, and case studies for interactive training sessions. These sessions will give providers the necessary information to provide clients with the understanding of using lactational amenorrhea method, transition to other methods, return to fertility, and the health benefits of waiting at least two years after the birth of their last baby before trying to conceive again.
Postpartum Family Planning eLearning Course
Online course developed by ACCESS-FP for the USAID Global Health eLearning Center.
Postpartum Family Planning Toolkit
This toolkit provides a comprehensive collection of best practices and evidence-based tools and documents on postpartum family planning developed through the ACCESS-FP Program. This toolkit will assist policymakers, program managers, trainers and service providers to develop and implement effective service delivery approaches that address the family planning needs of the women they serve.
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