5th Birthday Campaign Weekly Theme: Family Planning

USAID Bureau for Global Health sent this bulletin at 05/22/2012 09:40 AM EDT

The first step to ensuring that a child will see their 5th birthday starts before they are born. By helping women bear children during their healthiest years, space births at least 3 years apart, and avoid unintended and high risk pregnancies, family planning could prevent up to 40 percent of maternal deaths. When a mother dies, her children are less likely to survive. Studies indicate that 1.6 million under-5 deaths could be prevented annually if all women spaced their births 3 years apart. Family planning can also improve infant survival by delaying the age at which a woman has her first pregnancy. Babies born to young mothers under age 18 are more likely to be premature, have low birth weights, and suffer from complications of delivery.

More than 215 million women worldwide want to delay or avoid pregnancy but are not using a modern method of contraception. Increasing access to family planning is essential to help women and children survive and be healthy.

Visit the Every Child Deserves a 5th Birthday campaign website to learn more.

Read “24 Months for Pakistan’s Health” in the latest issue of Frontlines to learn about USAID’s family planning work in Pakistan.

Join us for an expert Twitter Expert Hour on Healthy Timing and Spacing of Pregnancies with USAID’s Dr. Maureen Norton this Thursday, May 24 from 10 to 11 a.m. EDT, using the hashtag #5thBDay.

Photo Source: Rajal Thaker, Courtesy of Photoshare

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