On July 27, IPA and the International Growth Centre (IGC), in collaboration with the Zambian Ministry of Health (MoH), presented the preliminary results of a study titled “Maternal Mortality Risk and Desired Fertility" at the MoH's Family Planning Technical Working Group meeting. These meetings are monthly policy and technical sessions hosted by the MoH with stakeholders and representatives from organizations that address family planning in Zambia. The study was conducted in high-density urban settlements of Lusaka by a research team led by Professors Nava Ashraf (London School of Economics), Erica Field (Duke University), Roberta Ziparo (Aix-Marseille University), and Alessandra Voena (University of Chicago). Federica Esu, Associate in Research at Duke University, presented the latest findings of the study.

 

During the presentation, working group participants encouraged the research team to expand the scope of the study by examining the impact of the program in rural areas, on a larger sample, and in areas where gender differences in fertility preferences appear to be broader. During the panel discussion, participants also discussed the need for strategies to increase male involvement in family planning decisions as well as to design successful strategies at the national level to be applied throughout communities and health facilities across Zambia.