This case study in Indonesia examined some assumptions about the outcome of family planning services. Safe Motherhood programs were flawed, because of the misplaced emphasis on family planning as a strategy to reduce maternal mortality. Family planning programs reduce the exposure to the risks of child-bearing, but they do not reduce the actual risks. Reproductive health should not be linked so tightly to demographic concerns and family planning. That cost saving occurs from family planning is insufficient to justify inattention to the needs of high quality obstetric care. Family planning should be viewed as just one component of a larger, comprehensive set of measures designed to assure the health of women at all stages in the life cycle: as citizens and workers, as mothers, and as adolescents. Interventions must begin before childbearing and include growth in economic, educational, and health opportunities. The aim of reducing maternal mortality by 50

作者：I, Smyth

来源：Focus on gender 1994 年 2卷 2期