with a population of over 131 million and a fertility rate of 29·9per 1000, population growth constitutes a primary threat tocontinued economic growth and development in bangladesh. onestrategy that has been used to cease further increases in fertilityin bangladesh involves using family planning outreach workers whotravel throughout rural and urban areas educating women regardingcontraceptive alternatives. this study uses a longitudinal databaseto assess the impact of family planning outreach workers’ contactupon contraceptive switching and upon the risk of an unintendedpregnancy. using longitudinal data on contraceptive use from theoperations research project (orp) of the international centre fordiarrhoeal disease research (icddr,b) in bangladesh, multipledecrement life table analysis and multilevel, discrete-timecompeting risk hazards models were used to estimate the cumulativeprobabilities of switching to an alternative form of contraceptiveuse after a woman engaged in a discussion with an outreach worker.after controlling for the effects of socio-demographic and economiccharacteristics, the analysis revealed that family planning outreachworkers’ contact with women significantly decreases the risk oftransitioning to the non-use of contraceptives. this contact alsoreduces the risk of an unintended pregnancy. family planningworkers’ contact with women is associated with the increased risk ofa woman switching from one modern method to another modern method.the study results indicate that side-effects and othermethod-related reasons are the two primary reasons for contraceptivediscontinuation in rural bangladesh.