Family Planning for Women During the
Postpartum Period: A Community Approach

Why take a community approach to postpartum care?

Postpartum care is a critical but underemphasized component of maternal and newborn care. Most maternal and neonatal deaths occur either at, or within 48 hours of, delivery. Because so many women give birth at home and/or confine themselves for a period postpartum, it is not enough to ensure that health facilities offer postpartum care;.  Programs must also find ways to provide such care in the community. The neglect of postpartum care is not just a policy or training issue—even when quality services exist, women often do not access them. Communities, then, must be educated and mobilized to access both routine and emergency care. A community approach to postpartum care ensures that communities understand the importance of providing  postpartum services at the community level.

Once services are in place, it is important that services be comprehensive—not just addressing prevention, early detection, and treatment of complications, but also promoting healthy behaviors through breastfeeding, immunization, maternal nutrition, and a full range of appropriate family planning (FP) options. The FP component of postpartum care is often weak, especially given the large unmet need for FP among postpartum women and what is now known of the potential health benefits to mother and child of waiting at least two years between a birth and a next pregnancy.

>> How ESD brings FP to Postpartum Women

>> Reaching Postpartum Women in Nepal