Annex B: Illustrative Positioning Statements

Each positioning statement below emphasizes different motivators for FP use and highlights the primary benefits of FP as related to the positioning theme. Pretest and adapt these or other positioning statements to reflect local context.

Note

It should be noted that some of the positioning statements suggested here may be perceived as gender neutral, or reinforcing potentially harmful gender norms – for example that women’s top priority is beauty. However, this positioning statement is included here and in some of this I-Kit’s materials as a demonstration of positioning that can be used in more conservative settings where perhaps solely promoting a woman’s right to make her own health decisions would be readily rejected by a variety of key audiences. Access a short research primer on gender transformative approaches. 

Primary Audience 1: Women Approaching AMA or HP Status

(including postpartum and pregnant women)

Thriving and Organized Family

Despite the day-to-day challenges of life, parents want their children to thrive and to grow up to be healthy and successful. Thriving means giving more than just basic care. A thriving family is an organized family with parents who are consistently able to provide fully and equally to all of their children and are prepared to handle life’s emergencies when they arise. Modern FP methods can contribute to a planned and orderly family life where the children are well cared for, thriving and growing up to be strong, smart and successful. By allowing them to space their children, modern FP methods help parents have an organized and thriving family.

Rest

There comes a time in a woman’s life when she knows she needs a rest from the demands of pregnancy, childbirth and newborn care. She knows her body is tired from childbearing. She also knows a rest will benefit her family, providing her more time and energy for the care of her husband and children, and maybe even more time for the joy of her first daughters having babies of their own. Modern FP methods can provide this rest.

Beauty

As women get older, they may worry they are losing their youthful beauty. The physical demands of having children can make a woman feel old and less attractive. The responsibilities of child bearing and the physical demands of having children and a busy household can leave little time to feel beautiful. They talk about it with their friends and are eager to find ways to preserve their beauty, both for their self-confidence and to feel confident that their husbands still find them attractive. Modern FP methods can help preserve a woman’s feeling of youth and beauty by giving her a break from pregnancies and a chance to feel young again with her husband. Self-confidence comes, too, from feeling in control and free from worries about getting pregnant.

Health

When a woman becomes pregnant, she must take care of her health, her baby’s health and the health of the children already at home who need her loving care. As a woman gets older, pregnancy, labor and delivery become less safe. Risks also increase for women who have already had five births. Women who are 35 and older and/or have already had five births are at greater risk of dying during pregnancy, labor and delivery, and of having a stillbirth or a baby who is too small or very sick. Modern FP methods can help women and couples become pregnant only at a time that is best for her health and the health of her family.

Walking a Path with God

Each person has a responsibility to God to live a good life and to partner with Him to follow the best path forward for one’s family. Modern FP methods help couples follow the path set by God by helping them provide the best for their children.

Primary Audience 2: Providers of Family Planning Services

Life’s Great Moments

Providers of FP services are privileged to witness life’s great moments in their community, as couples marry, have their first baby and grow their families. These life moments also include the time a couple decides to take a break from childbearing and focus on the needs of the children they have. Being part of such intimate decisions is a privilege that brings much pride and satisfaction. As an influential source of information to women and couples as they make important decisions, the service provider has a responsibility to provide correct and current information on FP and the safest times in a woman’s life for pregnancy.