Number/percent of women who received family planning information for pregnancy spacing during a postpartum/postabortion visit, by type of visit Number/percent of women who received family planning information for pregnancy spacing during a postpartum/postabortion visit, by type of visit Definition: The family planning (FP) information received, which includes healthy timing and spacing of pregnancy (HTSP) messages, may be in the form of counseling and/or printed materials. Only postpartum and postabortion care visits are included. HTSP information includes risks, benefits and messages. As a proportion, this indicator is calculated as: (Number of women presenting for postpartum or postabortion care who received FP information that included HTSP messages / total number of women attending for postpartum or postabortion care) x 100 Data Requirement(s): Type of visit (postabortion or postpartum), verification that the client received HTSP information Some may wish to collect additional information and disaggregate data by age of woman, parity, site, underserved population, or vulnerable group. The indicator should disaggregate by what form the information was received (counseling and/or printed materials). Data Source(s): Program records; health information systems; special survey; exit interviews Purpose: Based on the recommendations from the WHO technical consultation on birth spacing, women should wait at least 24 months after a live birth before attempting the next pregnancy and at least six months after a spontaneous or induced abortion. Practicing HTSP helps achieve the healthiest outcomes for women, newborns, infants, and children. Receiving timely information about FP is a critical step in ensuring optimal birth spacing. It is the role of the health care provider to inform, educate and counsel women and couples on the best options that are available to them in the context of free choice. Counseling on FP and HTSP should consider and respond to the particular needs and intentions of women given her age, marital status, parity and stage of life. Issue(s): The indicator does not capture if an FP method was accepted, but only if FP information for pregnancy spacing was provided. Keywords: access, postabortion care, quality, safe motherhood (SM), breastfeeding (BF), family planning, healthy timing and spacing of pregnancies (HTSP), newborn (NB) References: “Healthy Timing and Spacing of Pregnancy: A Trainer’s Reference Guide”, 2008. USAID and ESD Project. “Healthy Timing and Spacing of Pregnancies: A Pocket Guide for Health Practitioners, Program Managers, and Community Leaders”, 2006. USAID and ESD Project. WHO. 2005. Report of a WHO Technical Consultation on Birth Spacing. Geneva: Switzerland. Related content Family Planning (Core) Postabortion Care Access to Sexual and Reproductive Health Services Quality of Care in Sexual and Reproductive Health Services Filed under: access, breastfeeding, Family Planning, FP, FP/RH, Indicators, newborn, postabortion care, pregnancy, quality, Reproductive Health, RH
