Much of RACHA's programming revolves around family planning and reproductive

health; and we believe access to quality familyplanning resources and reproductive

healthcare are fundamental rights. Through increasing women's access to quality
reproductive health information and family planning services, preventing unwanted and
high risk pregnancies, and reducing the need for unsafe abortions, RACHA's
programming improves the health and lives of women and their families, and works
towards reducing maternal mortality. RACHA works to make certain that all women are
able to make informed choices about their lives, particularly regarding reproduction.
Women have the right to knowledge and services that empower them to decide how
and when they want to have children. Through providing education and accessible
services, RACHA helps to improve the health and well being of Cambodian families.

KRATIE, Cambodia – “My parents had many children, and they couldn’t afford to send
us to school,” said So Pumngea, 24, in Cambodia’s rural Kratie Province. “Before,
families had to stay poor.” But today, Ms. So has a powerful tool to help her break free
of the cycle of poverty: family planning.
When Ms. So was pregnant several years ago, she visited a midwife. In addition to
providing antenatal care and safely delivering the baby, the midwife also explained that
family planning could help Ms. So choose the number of her children and the spacing of
their births.

“I knew about birth spacing from seeing ads on TV, but I didn’t really understand what
my options were,” Ms. So said.

With the midwife’s help, Ms. So chose to use an intrauterine device, a long-lasting form
of contraception. She and her husband have decided that one child – their son, Panith –
is enough for now.

Family planning and education: A path out of poverty

Ms. So sees a direct relationship between the size of her family and their future
prospects.

“If I were to have many children, it would cost us a lot of money for health care and
school fees. I want my son to go to university, and if we had more children we would not
even be able to afford high school. My husband didn’t go to high school, and because of
this he has to do a very difficult job for not much money.”

Her parents were initially wary of her decision to not have a large family. But she
explained: “If I have the money for education, my son could become a doctor and won’t
have to cut wood in the forest like my husband. This will improve the situation of my
whole family.”
The promise of a better life for their grandson, now four years old, has helped change
their minds.

“Now that they understand this, everyone supports me completely,” Ms. So said.

Midwives spread the word

Midwives, like the one who delivered Panith, are playing a key role in educating women
about their options.She is not alone. Many young women in Cambodia are embracing
the benefits of family planning. According to local data, unmet need for contraception in
Cambodia fell dramatically between 2000 and 2010.
UNFPA and the Government of Cambodia are helping to train and deploy midwives in
areas where they are most needed, including rural communities where information
about reproductive health is limited and family planning is often misunderstood.
“Old people in Cambodia are afraid of pills and injections, and avoid coming to the
hospital,” said Chanduong Rotha, a senior midwife at the Orrusei Health Center in
Kratie. “If someone who is using contraception gets sick with a common illness like the
flu, they [circulate] rumours that family planning is to blame.”

But this is changing as Cambodian women increasingly look to midwives for care and
information. “Women are [already] coming to midwives for birth advice,” Ms. Chanduong
said. “Because of our training, and the fact that women are more comfortable talking to
us than male doctors, we are ideal for spreading this information.”

During her 21 years as a midwife, she has seen first-hand how attitudes have changed.
“During the last 10 years, there has been a big difference in both usage and acceptance
[of family planning],” she noted.

As views about family planning change, so do women's expectations for themselves,

their families and their futures.

“The new generation is different,” Ms. Chanduong added.

http://www.racha.org.kh/what-we-do/family-planning-and-reproductive-health

http://www.unfpa.org/news/cambodia-family-planning-offers-path-away-poverty