Effectiveness of a package of postpartum family planning interventions during 12 months in Burkina Faso and the Democratic Republic of Congo – the Yam Daabo study

In sub-Saharan Africa, women have a high unmet need for postpartum family planning (PPFP) until a year after childbirth despite the well-known benefits of PPFP: more than 30% of maternal, 21% of child and 10% of infant deaths could be prevented by effectively spacing birth-to-pregnancy intervals by at least two years. PPFP is defined by the World Health Organization as the prevention of closely spaced pregnancies and unwanted pregnancies up to 12 months after childbirth when pregnancy is the riskiest. The Yam Daabo study (i.e., “your choice” in Mooré) aimed to (i) identify barriers and enablers related to PPFP, (ii) craft interventions to address critical barriers based on participatory action research principles, and (iii) test the effectiveness of the resulting interventions on contraceptive use at 12 months postpartum, using a cluster randomized controlled trial design in predominantly rural settings in Burkina Faso and urban settings in the DRC