The provision of family planning (FP) services
has been cited as the most cost-effective strategy
for reducing not only maternal mortality, but also
infant and child mortality, as well as addressing
issues such as poverty, hunger, and insufficient
female education and women’s empowerment
[1-5]. Despite gains in contraceptive use in much
of the developing world, from minimal levels in the
1970s to almost 60 percent contraceptive prevalence
by 2012, there has been minimal progress
in sub-Saharan Africa and South Asia, the regions
with the highest burden of maternal deaths worldwide
[6-8]. A 26 percent unmet need for family
planning persists in this vulnerable region, with 97
percent of all unintended pregnancies occurring in
women with an unmet need for contraception [8,
9]. Meeting this need through FP programs could
reduce unintended pregnancies by 66 percent
and prevent 70 percent of the 303,000 maternal
deaths, 44 percent of the 2.9 million neonatal
deaths, and a significant proportion of the 2.6
million third-trimester stillbirths that occur each
year, as well as 73 percent of unsafe abortions
[2, 10, 11].