Introduction of postpartum and post abortion family planning into three hospitals in South Sudan

Introduction: Postpartum/post abortion family planning is a service provided for women who have given birth or had a spontaneous abortion. Due to low uptake of contraception in South Sudan, increasing contraceptive use is important to achieve Sustainable Development Goals.Objective: To introduce postpartum/post abortion family planning to women who have delivered or undergone spontaneous abortion at Juba  Teaching Hospital, Tambura Hospital, and Yei Hospital.Method: This was a project initiated by Lund University in South Sudan as a part of a capacity building international training programme in sexual and reproductive health and rights. The aim was to introduce the use of postpartum/post abortion family planning and train health care providers.Results: From the three hospitals, 1373 women who had delivered were counselled and 404 accepted postpartum contraceptives. Of 285 women who had had a spontaneous abortion and were counselled, 22 accepted contraceptives. During the project, 15 health providers were trained to promote and champion the use of postpartum and post abortion family planning provision.Conclusion: This study shows that training of health care staff to advocate and promote postpartum/post abortion contraception is effective and  can contribute to family planning services. Keywords: postpartum, post abortion, family planning, contraceptives, South Sudan