Adding It Up: The Costs and Benefits of Investion in Family Planning and Maternal and Newborn Health

Edilberto Loaiza and Nuriye Ortalyi provided feedback on drafts; Stan Bernstein and Howard Friedman provided technical assistance on costing data and analyses; and Jacqueline Mahon and Sharif Egal coordinated UNFPA's inputs, reviewed drafts and provided valuable help on references. Executive Summary care (including routine care and care for complications), and many who get care do not receive all the components of care they need; and n about 20 million women have unsafe abortions each year, and three million of the estimated 8.5 million who need care for subsequent health complications do not receive it. New analyses also show that the direct health benefits of meeting the need for both family planning and maternal and newborn health services would be dramatic. n Unintended pregnancies would drop by more than two-thirds, from 75 million in 2008 to 22 million per year. n Seventy percent of maternal deaths would be averted— a decline from 550,000 to 160,000. n Forty-four percent of newborn deaths would be averted— a decline from 3.5 million to 1.9 million. n Unsafe abortions would decline by 73%, from 20 million to 5.5 million (assuming no change in abortion laws), and the number of women needing medical care for complications of unsafe procedures would decline from 8.5 million to two million. n The healthy years of life lost due to disability and premature death among women and their newborns would be reduced by more than 60%. (This is measured in disability-adjusted life years, or DALYs, an internationally used standard for comparing the cost-effectiveness of health services.) More women would survive hemorrhage and infection, and fewer would endure needless suffering from fistula, infertility and other health problems related to pregnancy or childbirth. Newborns I n the developing world, deaths and poor health among women and newborns have remained too high for too long, despite decades of international agreements declaring the need for urgent action to improve well-being among these groups. More effective action is needed now, especially given the strong evidence of the benefits of investing in the health of women and their newborns: fewer unintended pregnancies; fewer maternal and newborn deaths; healthier mothers and children; greater family savings and productivity; and better prospects for educating children, strengthening economies and reducing the pressure on natural resources in developing countries. Because of these far-reaching benefits, increased investment in family planning and maternal and newborn health services could accelerate progress toward achieving the …