Percent of children aged 0-23 months who were born (to mothers who have received HTSP counseling/education) at least 33 months after the previous surviving child

Percent of children aged 0-23 months who were born (to mothers who have received HTSP counseling/education) at least 33 months after the previous surviving child

Percent of children aged 0-23 months who were born (to mothers who have received HTSP counseling/education) at least 33 months after the previous surviving child

Among women who have received healthy timing and spacing of pregnancy (HTSP) counseling/education and who have had more than one child, with the youngest being <2 years old, the proportion of those children whose previous sibling (who survived childbirth) is/was at least 33 months older

As a proportion, this indicator is calculated as:

(Number of children aged 0-23 months [born to mothers who had received HTSP counseling/education] who are at least 33 months younger than the previous surviving sibling / total number of children aged 0-23 months with a next older sibling [born to mothers who had received HTSP counseling/education]) x 100

Data Requirement(s):

Parity, exact age of the two children, verification of exposure to HTSP counseling/education

Some may wish to collect additional information and disaggregate data by age of woman, site, family planning method practiced, underserved population, or vulnerable group.

Program records; special survey; exit interviews

Based on the recommendations from the WHO technical consultation on birth spacing, women should wait at least 24 months after a live birth before attempting the next pregnancy.  A 33 month minimum birth-to-birth interval helps achieve the healthiest outcomes for women, newborns, and infants. This outcome indicator assists in capturing how well the optimal birth spacing recommendation is being practiced.

The indicator does not capture if the birth spacing of a child who was born at least 33 months after a previous surviving child was due to adopting an effective family planning method or if it was because of other factors (e.g. secondary infertility).

family planning, healthy timing and spacing of pregnancies (HTSP), newborn (NB), safe motherhood (SM)

“Healthy Timing and Spacing of Pregnancy: A Trainer’s Reference Guide”, 2008.  USAID and ESD Project.

“Healthy Timing and Spacing of Pregnancies: A Pocket Guide for Health Practitioners, Program Managers, and Community Leaders”, 2006.  USAID and ESD Project.

WHO. 2005.  Report of a WHO Technical Consultation on Birth Spacing.  Geneva: Switzerland.

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