Behavior Profile: Birth Spacing
Health Goal: Improve maternal and child survival
After a live birth, women or their partners use a modern contraceptive method to avoid pregnancy for at least 24 months
Indicator: Percentage of currently married or in union women using family planning for spacing

Behavior Analysis

Strategy

BEHAVIOR AND STEPS

What steps are needed to practice this behavior?

After a live birth, women or their partners use a modern contraceptive method to avoid pregnancy for at least 24 months

  1. Decide to use a modern contraceptive method
  2. Obtain family planning counseling from a qualified provider
  3. Select appropriate modern contraceptive method
  4. Obtain chosen method
  5. Use chosen method as instructed

FACTORS

What factors may prevent or support practice of this behavior?
Structural
Accessibility: Women and their partners do not have access to modern contraceptives because commodity supply is often irregular or sporadic, especially for certain methods
Service Provider Competencies: Women and their partners do not receive guidance on birth spacing because some providers do not emphasize its importance in discussing family planning
Service Provider Competencies: Women do not consult service providers about birth spacing because providers are sometimes rude, judgmental, and do not maintain confidentiality
Social
Family and Community Support: Women do not use modern contraceptives because community and religious leaders resist these on moral grounds (though they can be supportive of the concept of birth spacing)
Gender: Women do not use modern contraceptives or practice birth spacing because men often see large families or a frequently pregnant partner as a sign of virility and strength
Norms: Women and their partners do not consider birth spacing or decide to use modern contraceptives because large families are often the norm and the risks of closely spaced births are not well-understood or accepted
Internal
Attitudes and Beliefs: Women do not use modern contraceptives for birth spacing because they fear side effects
Knowledge: Women and their partners do not practice birth spacing because they do not understand the benefits

SUPPORTING ACTORS AND ACTIONS

Who must support the practice of this behavior, and what actions must they take?
Institutional
Logistics Personnel: Plan and manage contraceptive supplies to ensure consistent supply of stocked commodities
Providers: Offer respectful care and comprehensive counseling on the benefits of birth spacing and other specific birth spacing messages
Community
Community Leaders: Publicly support birth spacing and seek out spaces to discuss with men and women both on the importance of healthy birth spacing
Household
Male Partners: Actively support wives to select and implement appropriate birth spacing method

POSSIBLE PROGRAM STRATEGIES

What strategies will best focus our efforts based on this analysis?

Strategy requires Communication Support

Enabling Environment
Partnerships and Networks: Use community and faith-based organizations, including places of worship, to share and discuss birth spacing
Partnerships and Networks: Extend commodity supply outlets via social franchising or community based distribution networks
Systems, Products and Services
Supply Chain: Enhance use of Logistics Management Information Systems to better estimate contraceptive needs
Quality Improvement: Integrate specific birth spacing messages and communication skills into pre-service health worker curricula
Quality Improvement: Expand birth spacing entry points into Integrated Management of Childhood Illness clinics, postnatal care, etc.
Demand and Use
Advocacy: Develop birth spacing and Family Planning Advocacy Toolkit to garner support from different levels of leadership
Communication: Produce and disseminate birth spacing materials to families that position birth spacing as the healthiest option for a family
Communication: Use community open forums (with materials produced above) to discuss birth spacing services