A WHO mission to review the birth spacing programme in Oman took place from 5 to 9 May 2013. The mission noted that the programme has made significant contribution to the reduction of maternal and child morbidity and mortality as well as improvement in quality and social well-being of Omani citizens over the past 20 years. The assessment used the Engender Health’s Supply, Enabling Environment and Demand (SEED) analytical framework which encompasses three inter-related elements: 1) Enabling environment (political, financial support and supportive policies); 2) Demand creation (awareness creation, behaviour change activities and reducing myths and misconceptions); and 3) Supply (trained and supported service providers providing quality services, access, availability of commodities and required infrastructure for service provision).
The birth spacing programme was established in 1994 as an integral part of the Maternal and Child Health Services in the Ministry of Health, Oman. The main objective of the programme is to improve the survival and well-being of women and children and to allow women to space births by 3 or more years.