Healthy Timing and Spacing of Pregnancy Counseling Pathways: A Counseling Tool for Health Care Providers

This counseling tool from the United States Agency for international Development (USAID)'s Extending Service Delivery Project can be used to identify a woman who may be at risk of a closely spaced pregnancy or pregnancy at too early an age. The tool provides opportunities to:

• discuss the "Healthy Timing and Spacing of Pregnancy" (HTSP) messages and educate on pregnancies after age 34 and high parity pregnancies (5+ births);
  
• discuss the benefits of using family planning for delay of the first pregnancy until age 18;
  
• discuss spacing or limiting pregnancies for the best health outcomes, depending on a client’s reproductive health goals.
  

"The tool helps providers to reinforce appropriate information and counseling on informed choice and/or referral for family planning and reproductive health (FP/RH) services". This tool can be used by health care providers in various clinical settings, including family planning and sexual and reproductive health, as well as HIV- and youth-related clinics and in community outreach. The counseling tool is comprised of the three HTSP Counseling Pathways, to be used in conjunction with other resources included in the tool. Many of the resources are referenced in the pathways so that providers can easily refer to them during the counseling session. Charts indicate conversation and question pathways for counselors.