Leaders urge access to reproductive health supplies in crisis settings

“My husband and I agreed to use family planning and not have more kids, but he was pressured by our family and I got pregnant again,” said Ahlam, a mother of two in Yemen, earlier this year. When she went into labour, she was forced to travel almost eight hours to give birth; medical assistance was unavailable in her hometown of Taizz, where most health facilities have been destroyed by the ongoing conflict. See more.

Leaders around the world commit support for voluntary family planning

Kate Opio, 33, was buoyant, cuddling one of her newborn twins in the maternity ward at a health centre in Uganda’s Apac District. The other twin slept peacefully beside them. But this lovely moment almost didn’t happen, Ms. Opio’s midwife explained. All three nearly died in childbirth.

“Ms. Opio experienced a cervical dystocia, a condition where the cervix stops enlarging, making it difficult for the baby to come out,” Margret Nabukenya said. “We had to make a quick decision to get her to [the operating] theatre for a Caesarean to save the life of mother and babies.” See more. 

Men in rural Ethiopia show that family planning is not just a women’s issue

Sileshi Deguale was busy working alongside his family, preparing their land for planting season, but he paused to recall how difficult the work was last year. His wife had been too ill to help with the farming. It was around that time he made the biggest decision of his life, a choice that would help his wife regain her health by protecting her from unplanned pregnancies – he got a vasectomy. See more.