How Birth Control Could Save Lives — Pacific Standard
Birth control can save a lot of lives. In fact, providing contraception to 90 percent of those in need around the world would ultimately save the lives of 67,000 women and 440,000 infants over the next year, according to an analysis published last week in the journal Lancet. That’s in part because doing so would prevent unwanted, high-risk pregnancies and unsafe abortions, along with 564,000 stillbirths and almost 28 million unwanted live births undergone every year.
The analysis underscores the big difference that relatively simple health programs can make. Beyond contraception, providing 90 percent of the planet with World Bank-recommended women’s and children’s health measures — such as folic acid supplements for women planning to get pregnant, medicines for kids with diarrhea and other infectious diseases, and a skilled attendant for every birth — would save the lives of an additional 82,000 women and 2.5 million children, and prevent 285,000 stillbirths annually, according to the Lancet analysis, which was conducted by a team of public health researchers from the United States and the World Health Organization in Switzerland. Most of the recommended programs could be covered by community clinics and primary-care doctors; only a few require hospitalization.