Training

Health care providers, community health workers, peer educators, and community leaders need to be familiar with the evidence supporting healthy timing and spacing of pregnancy (HTSP). They also must understand the various service delivery models for promoting HTSP through education, counseling, and other activities. Training providers and others who influence health decision making on the benefits of HTSP and the outcomes related to high risk pregnancies (for example, those that occur before the age of 18 or after the age of 35, those that are parity 5 or greater, or those that are too closely spaced) will help ensure that women and families have access to the information and services they need to plan their families with the goal of healthy fertility. HTSP training can be easily integrated into existing pre- and post-service training on primary health care, family planning, maternal and child health services, HIIn Nigeria, a nurse trained by ESD on HTSP explained that information on the risks of maternal and infant mortality and morbidity for women who become pregnant too early or do not space helped her to provide better information about the benefits of family planning and pregnancy spacing to clients. She commented that she had personally seen the effects of early and closely spaced pregnancies with her clients, which strengthened her resolve to educate young married women about the importance of delaying and spacing pregnancies. V/AIDS testing and treatment, and other health services. 
 
This section of the Toolkit contains training materials to further the promotion of HTSP through health and community services. Many of these resources can be adapted for different purposes and contexts.
 
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Resources