Reproductive health behaviors and outcomes are the product of complex decision-making processes with multiple levels of influence. While a considerable body of literature examines the proximate and ecological influences, few studies have examined the role of social norms and stigmas. Researchers generally agree that social norms specify how individuals should behave in specific situations, and ...Read more >

Objectives: We sought to compare the decision-making process between women with Medicaid and private insurance undergoing postpartum sterilization. To prevent involuntary sterilizations, regulations require that Medicaid-insured women wait 30 days between signing a consent form and undergoing this surgery. This waiting period has been associated with unfulfilled requests for postpartum sterilization procedures, and in turn, ...Read more >

Objectives: Recent research from Texas found that self-provided and non-clinical abortions are on the rise, largely due to abortion restrictions. Anecdotal evidence from other abortion advocates suggests that some people seek alternative abortion methods for other reasons. This is the first qualitative study with a geographically diverse North American sample to describe people’s preferences, motivations, ...Read more >

This primary historical research project examines the concept of “unintended pregnancy” in social and cultural context, seeking to explain how such an intimate concept as pregnancy planning became one of the major goals of late 20th and early 21st century US public health. Though women have actively planned and prevented pregnancy since at least the ...Read more >

Objective: We aim to host planning activities engaging key interdisciplinary and multi-sectoral collaborators to design innovative research on the effectiveness of family planning interventions to reduce reproductive coercion and intimate partner violence (IPV). We will expand our extensive partnerships with Canadian health system leaders, clinicians, community organizations, and researchers to develop a national family planning ...Read more >

Objective: The objectives of this study are to examine the feasibility and acceptability of using auricular acupuncture as an adjunct to pain management during suction aspiration. Study Design: We approached women seeking first trimester uterine evacuation prior to 13 weeks gestational age, either an elective abortion or secondary to an abnormal pregnancy for enrollment in ...Read more >

Background: Job stress—an occupational hazard with significant health impacts—is well documented among non-physician health care workers generally, but has not been studied among abortion workers. Job stress and coping may differ between abortion workers and other health care workers because the structural marginalization of abortion has resulted in service delivery models characterized by an unusual ...Read more >

Objectives: The study seeks to compare changes in sexual function among women using hormonal contraception to those among women using non-hormonal methods exclusively. Additionally, the study aims to determine how changes in sexual function influence method satisfaction and discontinuation. Methods: Women between the ages of 14 and 45 who were starting a new contraceptive were ...Read more >

Objectives: We assessed how the restrictive policy and limited service environment in Alabama affects women’s access to abortion care. Methods: We analyzed anonymized billing data for all abortion encounters provided at two Alabama clinics in 2013 (n=2,216) to examine the distances women traveled to reach the clinic and the number of days between their consultation ...Read more >

Introduction: Intrauterine device (IUD) insertion is a painful procedure, particularly for nulliparous women. Interventions to reduce IUD insertion pain have not been identified. Nitrous oxide administered with oxygen (NO) is a safe analgesic with minimal side effects. We compared IUD insertion pain reported by nulliparous women randomized to NO versus oxygen. Objective: 1. To compare ...Read more >