A dozen women in motley-colored hijabs sat in the small courtyard of Rakiya Maitama’s home, peppering the midwife with questions. It was late last year in Inusawa, a village in northern Nigeria on the arid outskirts of the region’s biggest city. Over the course of a couple of hours, the women—who ranged in age from their early 20s to their early 40s and each had from two to eight children—talked about their ideal household size and why they’d sought family planning help. But first, they had practical questions.
“Will it change my menstrual cycle?” asked one. “Why is there always air in the tip of the condom?” another said.
