Georgetown University`s Institute for Reproductive Health (IRH) is the worldwide expert in expanding access to simple yet effective Fertility Awareness-based Methods (FAM) of family planning, including the Standard Days Methods® (SDM), used with CycleBeads®, and the Lactational Amenorrhea Method (LAM).
 
To address the high demand for Fertility Awareness-based Methods in India, IRH provides technical assistance to private and public-sector organizations to include these methods in their programs within a context of informed choice. IRH is also pioneering ways to provide these methods directly to consumers through mass media channels and innovative technologies. Click here to know more.
 
IRH applies a "research-to-practice-to-scale" model to all of our interventions, and develops a sound evidence base before taking programs to scale:
 

• IRH developed the SDM in the late 1990s and demonstrated its efficacy through a multi-site clinical trial. Since then, IRH has successfully conducted operations research in India and around the world to establish the feasibility and acceptability of offering the SDM and CycleBeads through community-based public and private sector health programs.
• IRH also developed and conducted clinical and operations research around LAM in the late 1980s and 1990s and more recently has piloted the re-introduction of LAM into NGO and government programs in select states in India and other countries.
•  Currently, IRH is adapting and applying the WHO/ExpandNet`s conceptual model for scale up of innovations to guide the scale-up of FAM in India.

 
IRH has been operating in India since 2001, working in partnership with the government, NGOs, and the private sector, with funding primarily from U.S. Agency for International Development (USAID). Since then, IRH`s India program has demonstrated results in integration and scale-up of the LAM and SDM in public and private sector programs.
 
Headquartered in Delhi, IRH-India also has program offices in the states of Jharkhand and Uttar Pradesh. IRH is part of the Georgetown University Medical Center based in Washington, DC, USA. Currently, IRH manages the Fertility Awareness-Based Methods (FAM) Project, USAID`s global project to scale up access to FAM worldwide.