IRH in India works to expand family planning options by providing technical assistance to local organizations to integrate modern, effective fertility awareness-based family planning methods into their services and programs within a context of informed choice; specifically, the Standard Days Method® (SDM) and the Lactational Amenorrhea Method (LAM). IRH works to expand access and increase demand for these methods by building organizational capacity to provide high quality services for all family planning methods.

IRH utilizes the WHO/ExpandNet’s conceptual model for scale up of health innovations. This model uses a systematic, rights-based, and evidence-based approach to scale up that takes into consideration social and environmental factors when planning scale up activities. More information on this approach is available at http://expandnet.net.

Partnerships are critical to our work. In India, IRH works with local communities, central and state governments, NGOs, international agencies, research institutes, professional organizations, and private-sector companies to: 

•     Advocate for integration of SDM and LAM into national norms and reproductive health policies;
•     Assist organizations to integrate these methods into training curricula and services;
•     Build capacity to train providers and offer SDM and LAM services;
•     Support monitoring and evaluation initiatives to ensure high quality and sustainable services;
•     Improve awareness and accessibility to easy-to-understand information on SDM, LAM, and all family planning methods;
•     Investigate cross-cutting issues in family planning, such as couple communication, gender equity and male involvement;
•     Develop innovative communication platforms for offering and sharing information about these methods. 

For our current activities, see our  Programs Section.