In the mid-1970’s, a Bangladeshi woman had more than six children on average. In combination with poor nutrition and lack of access to quality health services, this high fertility and rapid population growth represented a major constraint to the country’s economic development and social progress. The program has depend don a large cadre of female outreach workers going door to door to provide information, motivate clients and provide commodities; the program has used mass media to stimulate a woman’s status in Bangladesh in the past 30 years. It is estimated at $13-$18 dollars per birth averted. The prevalence of contraceptive use from rose from 3% to 54% (with a corresponding decrease in fertility from 7 to 3.4 children per woman) over two decades, a far greater change than would have been expected on the basis of changes in economic and social conditions alone. Source: Ruth Levine - Global Health: Millions Saved