In the rural village of Munongo Sango, near Kenya’s western border with Uganda, Irene Auma’s day begins like many others. She washes dishes outside as her toddler toddles nearby, the youngest of her three boys. It’s a familiar rhythm but one that took careful planning to maintain.

A knock at the gate interrupts the morning routine. Irene smiles when she sees Amos Magero, the local community health promoter, joined by Mercy Osiquin, a county community health assistant. Their visits are a regular and welcome part of life in Munongo Sango bringing vital services like immunizations, nutrition advice, and family planning information right to families’ doorsteps.

It was Amos who first spoke with Irene about family planning nearly a decade ago. At the time, Irene was a young mother, navigating the challenges of caring for a newborn. Then she learned she was pregnant again.

“I remember feeling panicked,” she says. “My firstborn was barely a few months old, and I asked myself, ‘How will I manage two babies at once?’”

That question led to a conversation with her husband, and eventually to a meeting with Amos. He explained how spacing children could help reduce health risks for both mother and baby and outlined the family planning options available nearby.

Together, Irene and her husband chose a long-acting injectable contraceptive, which would prevent pregnancy for three years. She accessed it for free at the nearby Munongo dispensary.

“It gave us breathing room,” she says. “Time to raise our children without the pressure of back-to-back pregnancies.”

When the three years were up, she renewed the contraceptive. And then renewed it again. Nearly nine years after her second child, Irene and her husband welcomed their third son, on their timeline. Today, she’s back on another three-year plan.

Her journey is not just personal—it reflects a larger story unfolding in Busia County. According to Kenya’s 2022 Demographic and Health Survey, 83% of women in the county participate in decisions about family planning, a powerful marker of agency. Yet only 55% of married women in Busia currently use contraception, trailing the national average.

Partners like Living Goods are working with the county government to close that gap, equipping community health workers with digital tools and training to offer high-quality care, and trusted information, right at home. Most contraceptives are available for free or at low cost at local health facilities, increasing access for women like Irene.

For her, family planning has been transformative. “I’ve experienced no side effects,” she says. “And I tell other women, it gives you the chance to raise your children well, without being overwhelmed.”

She pauses, as her second-born bursts through the gate after school. “If I hadn’t used family planning, I might have six children by now,” she says. “And the truth is, we wouldn’t have had enough to give each of them what they need.”