When women are able to choose when to have children, unintended pregnancies and maternal and newborn deaths decline. In 11 cities that account for 31 percent of urban Uttar Pradesh, India, our project demonstrated a significant increase in the modern contraceptive prevalence ratio, from 48 percent to 55 percent. Community workers reached more than 883,000 poor households with counseling and referrals. By 2014, successful strategies such as fixed service days were scaled up to 41 districts, including 70 rural blocks.
