Integrating Services Boosts Uptake of Long-Acting Family Planning
Genet Yilma, a mother at Ejere Health Center, received postpartum family planning counseling at a child wellness and immunization visit.
To receive a full spectrum of family health services at the very same time as your routine pediatric care is novel in rural Ethiopia, and incredibly vital. Health facility access can be challenging for women in these areas, often requiring extensive travel time and costs.
Family Planning Service Integration
JSI’s Gates Foundation-funded Strengthening Service Delivery project is integrating reproductive health services into existing health services like immunization visits and postnatal care across eight rural regions, transforming routine appointments into valuable opportunities. To realize this, we collaborated with the Ministry of Health and regional health bureaus, provided nearly 200 remote clinics with onsite training, tools, and job aids, and enabled regular onsite supportive supervision.
Improvements
This approach has led to an increase in client flow for family planning and a notable shift in methods chosen as clients are able to make well-informed decisions about their care. For instance, after receiving postpartum family planning counseling from providers at her child’s routine immunization unit, Genet, a new mother to a six-month-old, chose Implanon, a long-acting family planning service. She felt a long-acting method was her best choice, explaining, “Financially, we currently can’t raise more than two kids. Above all, it’s not fair for me to get pregnant while I have a child on my back that requires my focus.”
Results of Integrated Care
Service integration has been a key that unlocked system benefits both for our mothers and our staff,” Yimam Mohammed, reproductive health officer at Kutaber Woreda health office asserts.
Results would underscore this feeling. Since February 2025, 34,134 clients have been reached with counseling at integrated units, 12,441 clients received family planning care, culminating in 10,509 women adopting a family planning method through this integration platform.