Benefits of Meeting Women’s Contraceptive Needs in Burkina Faso Guttmacher Institute and l’Institut de Recherche des Sciences de la Santé December 2011

Context

Burkinabe women have more children than they desire Fertility rate by wealth quintile, 2003 Source: INSD and ORC Macro, Enquête Démographique et de Santé du Burkina Faso 2003, 2003

Many women who want to avoid pregnancy do not use modern contraceptives  About 4 in 10 Burkinabe women want to space or limit the number of children they have  However, nearly 2/3 of these women have an unmet need for modern contraception  About 1/3 of all pregnancies in Burkina Faso are unintended  32% of unintended pregnancies end in induced abortion  Another 54% of unintended pregnancies result in mistimed or unwanted births

In Burkina Faso pregnancy and childbirth carry significant health risks  1 in 28 women will die due to pregnancy related causes  About 30% of women give birth without any trained medical personnel  Only 1/5 of pregnant women receive adequate prenatal care  For every 1,000 live births, an estimated 80 infants die before their first birthday Source: WHO, Trends in Maternal Mortality, 2010 Maternal mortality ratio, 2008

Goals of the study  Provide policymakers, health care providers and other stakeholders an evidence base to inform better, more effective policies  Demonstrate the benefits of providing family planning services to all women who need them  Document the public health benefits and cost savings that result from scaling up these services

Methodological Approach

Main data sources  Burkina Faso censuses  Demographic Health Surveys  Ministry of Health  National Health Accounts  United Nations Population Fund  All figures are for 2009

We looked at four scenarios of modern contraceptive use  No modern contraceptive use  Current level and pattern of method use  Reducing unmeet need for modern contraception by 50%  Reducing unmeet need for modern contraception by 100%

Impact of Modern Contraceptive Use

Modern contraceptive use reduces abortion and unplanned childbearing Pregnancies per year (in 000s) Source: Guttmacher Institute, B enefits of meeting women’s contraceptive needs in Burkina Faso, 2011

Modern contraceptive use reduces unintended pregnancy and abortion Current use vs. no use Unintended pregnancy and induced abortion 35% 50% unmet need met vs. current use Unintended pregnancy and induced abortion 43% 100% unmet need met vs. current use Unintended pregnancy and induced abortion 85%

Modern contraceptive use decreases maternal mortality and maternal morbidity Current use vs. no use 50% unmet need met vs. current use 100% unmet need met vs. current use Maternal mortality 10%11%19% Maternal DALYs14%11%27%

Improving modern contraceptive use will require financial commitment Family planning cost (in millions US$), 2009 Source: Guttmacher Institute, B enefits of meeting women’s contraceptive needs in Burkina Faso, 2011

However, providing modern contraception greatly reduces reproductive health care costs Cost (in millions US$) Source: Guttmacher Institute, B enefits of meeting women’s contraceptive needs in Burkina Faso, 2011

Conclusions

Bottom line: Investing in family planning improves maternal health and is cost-effective Reduces costs of pregnancy care and generates significant savings that can be reinvested to help meet other MDGs and development goals $ Reduces maternal mortality and morbidity and improves the health and well-being of women and their families

Thank You This study was the result of a collaboration between the Guttmacher Institute and l’Institut de Recherche des Sciences de la Santé; it was made possible by a grant from the World Bank. For more information, visit