Women's Voices, Women's Lives: The Impact Of Family Planning, A Synthesis of Findings from the Women's Studies Project

The studies examined how women's family planning experiences -- their contraceptive use and non-use, their pregnancies and childbearing, and their experiences with family planning and reproductive health programs -- affected other aspects of their lives, including their roles as individuals, as family members and as participants in the larger community. Some studies interviewed women's relatives, including husbands or partners, parents and in-laws, to determine how family interactions and power dynamics influence contraceptive experience and use.

WSP found that while women perceive numerous benefits of family planning use, they also see negative consequences, such as family disapproval and method side effects, which can discourage them from taking control of their fertility. Women's dual perspectives should be taken into account as researchers, women's advocates, policy-makers and providers work collaboratively to improve family planning services. By understanding the intricate realities of women's lives and the factors that affect their reproductive health behaviors, family planning programs can offer services that match women's needs and ultimately can help improve the quality of women's lives.

The results have clear implications for health policies and programs. For example:

• Contraceptive counseling must take into account gender norms and the barriers they may pose to family planning.
• Peer networks should be established, in which experienced contraceptive users counsel new users about the everyday realities of method side effects.
• Men and other key family members need to be educated about family planning to help them make informed decisions about family planning use and to support women's contraceptive choices.
• Counseling should emphasize the benefits of contraceptive use beyond health and economics, including emphasis on improvement in family relationships.
• Family life education should begin early, and women should be encouraged to view family planning use as a component of life-long reproductive health.

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Also available online are a set of 26 case studies from 10 countries plus secondary analysis from 4 countries (including Bangladesh, Bolivia, Brazil, China, Egypt, Indonesia, Jamaica, Korea, Malaysia, Mali, Philippines, Zimbabwe): available full text online (with summaries)