Family planning (FP) enables families to have the number of children they would like to have and at the time that they would like to have them.
Recent evidence by Cleland and colleagues shows that access to FP can reduce maternal deaths by 40 percent, infant mortality by 10%, and childhood mortality by 21%.
FP also helps to reduce the broader costs of health care since avoiding unplanned pregnancies means there will be fewer mothers seeking care for pregnancy complications, unsafe abortion, and delivery.