Submission ID 131395
| Issue/Objective | Every year, an estimated 287,000 women die from pregnancy and childbirth complications, and 4.8 million children die before their fifth birthday. These figures are routinely presented as evidence of the inadequacy of MNCH programming - yet a critical upstream intervention remains structurally siloed from maternal and newborn health strategies in most low- and middle-income countries: family planning. Preventing unintended pregnancies would save the lives of approximately 70,000 women and adolescents and prevent 414,000 newborn deaths annually. Current contraceptive use already prevents an estimated 131,000 maternal deaths per year globally. Treating them otherwise perpetuates a false and costly divide between two dimensions of the same continuum of care. |
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| Methodology/Approach | This position paper draws on the peer-reviewed evidence base linking family planning to maternal and newborn survival, TCI's operational evidence from five MNCH scoping studies and over a decade of FP programming across 13 countries, and global health financing data documenting the fragmentation of FP and MNCH budget streams at national and donor levels. |
| Results | TCI's scoping study in Côte d'Ivoire recorded a 102% achievement of additional family planning user targets alongside a 12% reduction in ANC dropout rates - within a single integrated MNCH/FP programme. In India, postpartum family planning uptake improved alongside ANC and PNC coverage in cities where services were deliberately bundled. In Kenya, adolescent pregnancy rates of 23% - nearly double the national average - demonstrated the compounding maternal mortality risk when AYSRH and MNCH remain disconnected. Across all five hubs, the FP and MNCH service delivery platforms were found to be structurally convergent: same facilities, same community entry points, same health workers, same accountability mechanisms. |
| Discussion/Conclusion | This paper calls on global health funders, national governments, and implementing partners to formally recognise family planning as a core MNCH prevention strategy - equivalent in its preventive value to antenatal care and skilled birth attendance. It advocates for integrated FP-MNCH financing streams, joint programme design, and convergent accountability frameworks. TCI's evidence demonstrates that integration is operationally feasible, cost-efficient, and politically achievable. |
| Presenters and Affiliations | Victor Igharo Johns Hopkins University, W.H Gates Institute for Population and Reproductive Health Jessica Mirano Johns Hopkins University, W.H Gates Institute for Population and Reproductive Health Ian Salas Johns Hopkins University, W.H Gates Institute for Population and Reproductive Health Fatimata Sow Intrahealth International Nancy Aloo JHPIEGO |
