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Success Story
Health outlets counsel women on family planning and birth spacing options
Meeting Community Health Needs
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Photo: PSI Nepal
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A trained counselor provides family planning advice to women at a Sun Quality Health clinic.
"Sun Quality Health outlets really are new friends in our neighborhood... They are very good and listen to what I want. I have already advised my friends to visit a Sun Quality Health outlet," says Bimala.
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Bimala Manandhar is a new mother who lives in Godavari, Nepal, a small village on the outskirts of Kathmandu. Her daughter is eight months old, and to ensure that she can care for her properly, Bimala wants to wait for two or three more years before having another child.
While she had heard of family planning methods, Bimala didn't believe that they were effective and feared that they had negative side effects. She was also too poor to arrange counseling at a hospital or clinic so she could learn more.
After hearing her concerns, a local health volunteer told Bimala about USAID-supported Sun Quality Health, which provides free counseling services and subsidized family planning products that are affordable for low-income communities. During her visit, Bimala said her nervousness and anxiety were immediately relieved by the warm welcome, the "client's rights" chart and the comprehensive advice she got from a trained counselor. After learning about her options, Bimala chose the family planning method most suited to her needs. The counselor then gave her a card to remind her to return for a follow-up and welcomed her to come back any time if she had any questions or side effects.
Now that she doesn't have to worry about an unwanted pregnancy, Bimala feels more confident and positive about her future. With a smile on her face Bimala says, "I had never thought even poor people like us could afford good quality products and services. I am really thankful to the [Sun Quality Health] service provider for helping me decide for my family's future."
Bimala now actively shares her experience with other women in her community, recommending that all her friends visit the local Sun Quality Health for counseling on birth spacing and family planning. "Sun Quality Health outlets really are new friends in our neighborhood.... They are very good and listen to what I want and offer many choices of family planning products. It's good to get quality services near my house.
"It is actually a lot cheaper and less time consuming for me to go to one of these outlets than to get a bus into town in search of a good service."
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