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Increasing the
interval between births and delaying the age at first motherhood
can significantly reduce infant, child and maternal
mortality. Optimal birth spacing can save lives and improve
the health and well being of mothers and their families.
A growing body of
documentation supports the concept of waiting 3-5 years
between births. The following graphs show that
Birth Spacing saves lives.
Source: Conde-Agudelo, 2002
Meridian Group International Inc.
is part of the Catalyst
Consortium, a team of health organizations and donors taking
part in the
Optimal Birth Spacing Initiative
(OBSI). The goal of the OBSI is to place optimal birth
spacing on the global agenda, and to institute an optimal
birth spacing recommendation of three to five years at the
policy, programmatic and behavioral levels.
Meridian's role
is to work with the private sector and leading pharmaceutical
companies to support Birth Spacing.
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