Nigeria, Africa's most populous country, has the second-highest number of maternal deaths in the world. The Edge of Joy follows doctors, midwives, nurses, and public health educators as they fight maternal death on every front, from preemptive family planning education to expanded blood transfusion services.

In one of Nairobi's poorest neighborhoods, life hasn't been the same since one enterprising woman set up her clinic. Now she's helping 700 families a month plan their families and their future.

Ramkeshari Shrethsa has been teaching women in Kathmandu about family planning for nearly two decades, since before climate change decimated the once-clockwork rainy season. Ramkeshari's daughter Renu is studying for a career in family planning education and believes it decreases the demand for shrinking natural resources.

Ayneshet, a health extension worker in Ethiopia, is dedicated to educating women about the benefits of family planning. She helps women realize that reducing the number of births decreases the chances of complications and increases the likelihood of rising from poverty.

Khadeza and Jahanara both live in Dhaka, Bangladesh, but their lives could not be more different. While Khadeza lives with her son, husband, and mother-in-law, Jahanara is a single mother with seven children to support. Khadeza has a steady job in a garment factory, which has a clinic where she can access family planning free of charge. Jahanara works as a cleaner in several houses around the city and has no access to birth control.

Infrequent rains have dried out the soil in parts of Nepal's terai, a region of rolling plains on the Indian border where Sarada Chaudhary lives, and an expanding population has meant more trees felled for firewood. Yet Sarada sees great potential in the women in her group to improve their own lives, and also to help preserve the forest.

Contraceptives are difficult to get hold off in rural Sierra Leone. As a result, many young couples end up with more children than they can take care of, a strain on both the family's budget and the mother's health. But a new program is teaching young mothers about family planning and providing free birth control.

Fatima Said Yesuf's family lost everything in a flash flood. They now live with about 20 other families in a relocation camp of corrugated metal shacks covered with plastic tarps. She has turned to family planning keep from becoming pregnant again, so she can focus on raising the six daughters she already has.