A Voice of Trust: How Midwife Tewodros Provides Respectful Postpartum Family Planning Counseling in Ethiopia
By Nardos Delelegn Bogale, EngenderHealth Ethiopia
A Steady Hand in a High-Volume Ward
In the fast-paced labor and delivery ward of Akakai Health Center in Ethiopia, where nearly 200 to 280 births take place each month, Tewodros Bekele stands as a steady and compassionate presence.
With nearly a decade of experience as a midwife, he has seen the highs and lows of maternal care—and he’s determined to be part of the solution to address postpartum family planning (PPFP).
Missed Opportunities in a Fragmented System
Tewodros knows that when a woman delivers a baby, it’s not only a medical event in a health facility—it’s a pivotal moment to offer informed, respectful counseling and guidance about a woman’s reproductive choices that align with her future. Yet, despite having five PPFP-trained professionals at the facility, internal systems barriers have often prevented optimal service delivery. Instead of providing timely informed counseling to new mothers, staff are continually being shuffled between units and into managerial roles, leading to missed opportunities for family planning.
“Many women want to plan their families, but their choices are often shaped by prior misconceptions and narratives,” Tewodros explains. “When they seek care, they rely on healthcare providers to offer informed guidance. They trust us to guide them.” This trust, he believes, places a great responsibility on healthcare workers—not just to offer information, but to communicate with empathy, clarity, and care.
Counseling as a Lifesaving Skill
For Tewodros, effective counseling is both an art and a science. He emphasizes the importance of using a structured approach—particularly the PPFP counseling checklist—to ensure women receive accurate, comprehensive, and personalized support. Every question asked and every word spoken matters, especially in a decision as important as choosing family planning.
He sees training—like the postpartum family planning integration workshop he attended through EngenderHealth—not as a formality, but as a lifeline for both providers and the women they serve. New insights reinvigorate his approach, sharpen his skills, and remind him of the broader mission: to reduce maternal deaths and improve health outcomes for mothers and newborns alike.
The Call for System-Level Change
But Tewodros also knows that individual commitment is not enough. To truly close the gaps in postpartum family planning, health systems must prioritize high quality standards of care, support continuous learning, and champion integrated service delivery. Only then can dedicated health professionals like him fully realize their potential and ensure that no woman leaves the maternity ward without the knowledge and tools she needs to plan her future.