Selected facilities may already offer FP services including provision of FP services for women in the postpartum period. In other words, there may already be trained FP providers within the facilities. PPFP entails that FP services are offered to women at the maternity unit following delivery in the immediate postpartum period or at designated FP units in the extended postpartum period. The training needs assessment will enable the team to categorize relevant providers based on whether or not they have received FP training and are providing FP services. The assessment will focus particularly on Nurses and CHEWs in the RMNCH unit. Areas of optimization of the PPFP approach within selected facilities will also be assessed with emphasis on PPFP integration across relevant service delivery points (SDP) within the facility, inter-facility referrals from identified SDPs, and documentation of the PPFP services provided. The capacity building approach will be responsive to address gaps identified in these areas to effectively optimize PPFP services.

Based on the outcome of the training needs assessment, the team will categorize health providers into two major groups including trained FP providers currently providing FP services, including long-acting reversible contraceptives (LARC), and MCH unit providers without FP training. A comprehensive PPFP training will be organized for untrained providers in the maternity/FP units to prepare them for PPFP implementation. A 1-2-day PPFP orientation will be conducted for providers already trained on provision of FP services including LARC. The PPFP trainings and orientation will cover key areas of FP method options, documentation and reporting, and referral strengthening from relevant service points.

These trainings are based off of the Family Planning Training for Physicians and Nurses/Midwives: National Training Manual. Participants are certified as family planning providers following post training supportive supervision. Other useful training tools can be found here.

The whole site orientation (WSO) approach should also be adopted to provide relevant PPFP information and benefits to the entire facility staff including staff from relevant integration points to improve their understanding of PPFP and engender their support for seamless PPFP service provision. Some of the relevant integration points include ANC, children clinics, immunization units and MNCH weeks.

Work with existing pool of social mobilizers within focus communities to include relevant PPFP messages into social and behavior change and communication (SBCC) activities for RMNCH programs. Review existing information, education and communication (IEC) materials to reflect PPFP information and circulate widely within the communities. Engage community leaders including religious and traditional leaders who are already FP champions to advocate for PPFP services within their congregations and at other relevant community events. Discuss PPFP information and services as part of routine FP outreaches and during MNCH weeks and refer interested postpartum women to nearby health facilities for PPFP services.

Strengthen FP commodity logistics management systems (CLMS) across selected facilities. Facilities already offering FP services are likely to have a moderately functional or strong logistics systems in place compared to newly identified facilities for PPFP services. It is advisable for states to kick-start implementation of the PPFP approach in FP-experienced facilities with focus on strategies to close existing gaps in the facility supply chain management systems. For PPFP-naïve facilities, states will need to develop an activation plan which includes instituting FP CLMS within the facilities, training of providers on FP, inclusion of the facilities on the list of FP facilities for requisition and supply, and on the DHIS for reporting etc. To fully operationalize the PPFP approach, there may be need to set up the maternity unit to be able to provide FP services directly without having to refer to the FP units, this will require proper planning and organization of the unit, with seamless commodity supply from the FP unit. The facility team will receive coaching and technical assistance on the use of FP requisition, issue and report forms (RIRF) to enable them to request for adequate commodities based on utilization. The maternity team will work closely with the team at the FP unit to ensure synergy in requisition and reporting.

Provide technical assistance to states to review the current FP tools to capture relevant PPFP data as much as possible. The current register already captures required information around FP service provision. Providers should be guided to use applicable section of the register to indicate PPFP when FP services are provided in the immediate or extended postpartum periods. Where possible, work with state government to design a monthly summary form to help in reporting the indicators listed below to provide evidence for scaling the approach and necessary review for improvement.