Impact of family planning and reproductive health on women"s lives : a conceptual framework

This paper describes the framework and presents a number of research studies which the WSP is undertaking based on it. While many of the framework"s elements are similar to those in earlier conceptual models, three additional concepts have been added: (1) the life cycle; (2) the notion of childbearing experience, which includes unfulfilled pregnancy desires and infant and child mortality, as well as the use of family planning to delay, space, or limit births; and (3) the role that other reproductive health services play in family planning use and in women"s lives more generally. In addition, the framework includes the three broad dimensions of women"s lives -- personal, familial, and societal. Includes references and discussion of earlier conceptual models of women"s lives.