***Originally Aired Feb 2020***

More than 800 women across the globe die each day from complications related to pregnancy. Some of them bleed to death. Some of them develop infections or severe life-long medical conditions because they are delivering their babies in unsafe environments.

Many of these deaths could be prevented if more young people had access to birth control and other reproductive health care. Pathfinder International is a nonprofit working with communities in 20 countries to make this a reality.

On this episode of The Dose, Pathfinder CEO Lois Quam, a member of the Commonwealth Fund’s board, recounts some of the stories she’s heard from young people around the world. Quam tells host Shanoor Seervai about the challenges they face in deciding whether and when to have children — and how their lives change when they are able to make this choice.