In Pakistan, the USAID funded Family Advancement for Life and Health (FALAH) project is helping educate couples on life-saving natural family planning methods like the Standard Days Method (SDM). In a country where many women live too far from health clinics to receive injectable or oral contraceptives, SDM allows women to achieve the healthiest outcomes for themselves and their children.

Zuhra Bibi, 16, was married six months ago to Sultan Shah in the province of Sindh, Pakistan. Zuhra learned from her mother-in-law, a community-based volunteer trained by the FALAH project, that she is too young to become pregnant and needs to delay her first birth in order to ensure the healthiest outcomes for her family.

"When my mother-in-law was conducting group meetings, I realized that a pregnancy before 18 years of age is dangerous for a woman's health. I learned about the range of contraceptive methods available to me, including the mala (the standard days method)," says Zuhra.

The method breaks down the days of the menstrual cycle and can estimate when there is a significant probability of pregnancy. Zuhra's husband attended a similar group meeting conducted by a male community-based volunteer trained by FALAH, and also realized the importance of delaying their first pregnancy and now offers his full support.

These community-based volunteers are educating many Pakistani couples like Zuhra and her husband to ensure they have the necessary information to preserve the health of both mother and child.