CCIH has a longstanding commitment to maternal and child health, and in particular to protecting the health of mothers and children through optimizing the timing and spacing of pregnancies through family planning.

In 2008, CCIH assessed members’ practices and views about family planning (FP), leading to a definition that FP:

“enables couples to determine the number and timing of pregnancies, including the voluntary use of methods for preventing pregnancy – not including abortion – harmonious with their values and religious beliefs.”

Why Family Planning is Vital for Christians working in Health

The evidence is clear that using family planning/healthy timing and spacing of pregnancies to space and limit births improves the health of mothers and children. Unintended pregnancies can harm women and children. When a woman becomes pregnant too soon following the birth of a child, the next child is more likely to die or be malnourished and stunted.

CCIH’s Movement for Family Planning

Over the past 15 years, CCIH has built a cohort committed to following best practices that work with Protestant, Catholic, and interfaith approaches to healthy timing and spacing of pregnancies. For example, CCIH:

  • Works globally on policy and program development to strengthen faith-based approaches to FP.
  • Co-chairs the Faith Subcommittee of the International Conference on Family Planning.
  • Engaged in numerous global policy and advocacy bodies to help funders and partners assess and revise their strategies for faith engagement.
  • Supported local action by training health networks, facilities and health workers on FP advocacy and programming that reduce stockouts and integrating FP into national and local health planning.
  • Stimulates dialogue with religious leaders about FP, including providing toolkits for strategic planning, and sermon guides.

CCIH strives to provide accurate and practical evidence-based family planning information and materials. Please visit our resource index to find family planning resources, including those developed by CCIH.

For brief overviews of previous grant-funded projects, see Stories of Impact: Bringing Family Planning Services to Underserved Communities and Advocacy Project Tapped Into the Power of Faith Leaders as Health Influencers. If you have any questions or concerns, please contact our Program Director Mona Bormet at mona.bormet (at) ccih.org.