How to grapple with soaring world population? An answer from down south

Girls from the Nairobi slum of Kibera had a problem: They could not attend school because they could not afford sanitary pads. Absent government help, they decided to form a savings group, depositing and investing money.

A Colorado program reduced the state’s teen birth rate by 40 percent by providing young women with long-acting reversible birth control.

More than 300 million women and girls don't have access to the hygiene products they need because of taboos and a lack of resources. Education is helping change that, as are organizations that provide sanitary pads.

Women in the Philippines have been coming to this small clinic in a Manila slum for years to get affordable birth control, something frowned upon in this largely conservative Catholic country.

Popular in some countries and catching on in the U.S., community health workers fill gaping holes in care. The workers help curb health care costs by preventing complicated disease and emergency room visits.

There is nothing more difficult than changing entrenched cultural practices, especially those as shrouded in taboos as female genital cutting. A grassroots approach in Ethiopia, however, has nearly completely eradicated this practice in villages that use it.

A Buffalo, New York clinic provides a space for both abortions and natural births. In looking at the experiences as a continuum, rather than as juxtiposing sides, the hope is to change how people think about the birth experiences.

Expecting mothers, especially young ones, can often feel scared and unprepared about the pregnancy process. Maternity meeting groups help them gain more support and knowledge about their future pregnancies.

Colorado causes a large decline in teen pregnancy and abortions by implementing free, long-term birth control to prevent pregnancy. While demonstrating massive success, its continuity is in the air considering the ongoing fight over health insurance at the federal level.

In rural areas in India, lack of physicians is a big barrier to safe abortions, leading women to undergo deadly procedures. A proposed law by the Indian government would allow midwives and mid-level providers to perform abortions.