New research suggests that sexual minority women have an increased risk of unintended pregnancy compared to their heterosexual peers. Little research, however, has investigated the pathways that lead to these disparities, including sexual orientation disparities in contraception counseling and use. Sexual minority women may face several unique barriers to receiving adequate contraceptive counseling, including both ...Read more >

The overarching goal of this study is to provide reliable, rigorous and scientifically grounded evidence on the need for safe abortion services in refugee settings, including as a result of rape and incest, and to use this evidence to inform the development and delivery of programs and policies for millions of refugee women worldwide. More ...Read more >

Given the high out-of-pocket cost of IUDs, insurance coverage has a strong effect on IUD uptake. For many young adults insurance coverage is absent, unstable, or incomplete. Evidence that cost and insurance-related barriers persist is provided by the Contraceptive CHOICE Project whereby women were provided their desired method at no cost; 58% chose intrauterine contraception ...Read more >

Background: Depot medroxyprogesterone acetate (DMPA, Depo-Provera) is a progesterone-based drug used for contraception by up to 50 million women world-wide. DMPA has been shown in animals to be a potent down-regulator of the immune system. Autoimmune diseases, such as systemic lupus erythematosus (SLE) are related to high levels of immune activation, as measured by analytes ...Read more >

Background: Epilepsy affects an estimated 800,000 women aged 15-44 in the US, making it the most common neurological disorder in women of reproductive age. Informed family planning decision making is a critical component of this population’s overall health and quality of life because some medications used to treat epilepsy can reduce the efficacy of popular ...Read more >

Background and Rationale: Gestational diabetes mellitus (GDM) complicates 3-7% of pregnancies in the US and increases affected women’s risk of developing type 2 diabetes. The prevalence of GDM is increasing in tandem to rising rates of type 2 diabetes and obesity. Since unintended pregnancy in women with pre-diabetes and diabetes imposes substantial maternal and fetal ...Read more >

In recent years, the public health community has recommended the inclusion of reproductive intention screening into primary care settings, such as through the use of the “One Key Question” (OKQ). Including pregnancy intention questions into primary care could improve pre-conception care for women who desire pregnancy as well as contraceptive choices for women who do ...Read more >

Objectives: The objectives of this study were to investigate how young women perceive and experience anal intercourse, and how it fits into their sexual and reproductive health behaviors. Methods: In-depth interviews were conducted with 29 young women ages 18-24 years who reported any lifetime experience of anal intercourse. Interviews lasted no more than 90 minutes ...Read more >

This mid-career mentorship project will support the development of an online research mentorship toolkit. At the University of Colorado, we have developed a successful research program in family planning. A significant contributor to the success we have achieved is the inclusion of mentees on virtually every project and at every level. This process has been ...Read more >

Objectives: To refine a counseling aide to help predict the acceptability of a given pain control regimen during first