How do international family planning programs protect women's health?

Answer: Every minute, a woman dies somewhere on earth from the complications of pregnancy and childbirth--over 500,000 deaths a year. Millions more suffer long-term disability. In the developing world, childbearing complications are the leading cause of death and disability for women age 15 to 49.

By spacing births, family planning lowers mortality among both women and children, and also reduces the toll on women’s health from repeated pregnancy, childbearing and sexually transmitted infections.