Can Light-touch Enhancements Improve Postpartum Family Planning Use Among First-time Mothers: Findings from small-scale testing of an integrated approach in Bangladesh

This report provides an overview progress and findings from the first phase of the Connect Project which aims to develop approaches to increase first time mothers’ (FTMs’) postpartum family planning  (PPFP) use that can both be feasibly implemented by local and international organizations and, to the extent feasible, sustained by governments without project funding. This report focuses on results from Bangladesh, where Connect is known as Shongzog and “enhances” USAID’s MaMoni Maternal and Newborn Care Strengthening Project (MNCSP) with light-touch, scalable approaches. We use “Shongzog”, which means “the connection” to refer to Connect’s efforts in Bangladesh throughout this document.