Methods	Quasi‐randomized and natural experiment in India Study conducted between 2002 and 2004
Participants	Random samples of married women younger than 25 with no more than one child were surveyed in 2002–2003, before PRACHAR was implemented (N = 1995), and in 2004, 21–27 months after implementation (N = 2080).
Interventions	Intervention: The PRACHAR Project seeks to increase contraceptive use for delaying and spacing births through communication intervention. During home visits female change agents, newly married women were counselled on delaying first births and on the correct and consistent use of the pill and condoms. Women who were pregnant for the first time were counselled to space their next birth by using contraceptives. They received information on where to obtain health services for contraception, antenatal care, safe delivery, postpartum care and immunization. Control: comparison areas were chosen because their socioeconomic conditions and accessibility were similar to those of the intervention communities. Setting: community level Timing of intervention: periconceptional Moderators delivering:female change agents, male change agents, training officers, government health workers, rural medical practitioners
Outcomes	Primary: Contraceptive demand and use, and related attitudes and knowledge (early childbearing) Secondary
Notes	“Women in intervention areas had elevated odds of knowing that fertility varies during the menstrual cycle, and of agreeing that early childbirth can be harmful and that contraceptive use is necessary and safe for delaying first births” Funding: NA Declaration of interest: NA