Contraception comes in many forms—from condoms and the pill to natural methods and IUD’s—some are readily available to women, especially those in developing countries, and others are nearly impossible to access. Currently, more than 200 million women do not have access to high quality family planning services and contraceptive commodities, causing unwanted pregnancies leading to unsafe abortions and extremely high maternal mortality rates.

Jhpiego, an international non-profit health care organization affiliated with Johns Hopkins University, believes the key to reducing maternal mortality rates and reducing unwanted pregnancies is to provide women around the world with options, education and resources—family planning education, reproductive health services, and contraceptive options. On Saturday, September 26, in recognition of World Contraception Day, Jhpiego will celebrate with governments, non-governmental organizations (NGOs), and individuals from around the world the progress made and encourage communities to take action to ensure women have access to a wide range of family planning and reproductive health services.

Jhpiego is one of many organizations working hard to implement such programs to save the lives of women around the world. Under Jhpiego’s ACCESS/Family Planning Program sponsored by USAID, Jhpiego is educating health care providers and the women they serve about family planning—including post-partum family planning, as well as providing education about contraceptive use. About one third of the more than 530,000 maternal deaths each year could be prevented if women had access to reliable family planning methods.

Remembering the needs of Postpartum Women on World Contraception Day 2009