Fifty years ago, the average woman in Botswana had seven children. Now she will have fewer than three. Enabling women to control their fertility has had huge ramifications for their health, education and employment – could President Trump’s ‘global gag rule’ threaten this? Nicola Davis travels to Botswana to investigate Fifty years ago, the average woman in Botswana had seven children. Now she will have fewer than three. This marks one of the dramatic reductions in fertility in the world and could hold lessons for addressing one of our biggest challenges – how to grapple with soaring world population?