Background: The United States has one of the highest teen birth rate in the entire developed world, despite a decline in rates over the last two decades. Declining teen pregnancy rates have been due in part to increasing knowledge, access, and utilization of contraception. Teen birth rates of American Indian and Alaska Native (AI/AN) women ...Read more >

Background: With less than 5% adolescents using IUDs, there is limited information on young women’s contraceptive decision making around choosing IUDs and their experiences with IUDs.  Prior qualitative studies have largely utilized in-depth interviews and centered around the time of pregnancy.  The purpose of this qualitative study is to explore why adolescents who were enrolled ...Read more >

Currently, there is a general unease of providers to recommend the intrauterine device (IUD) as a plausible birth control method for their solid organ transplant patients.  It is not uncommon to receive a consult from the transplant team to either remove a patient’s IUD or to prevent its placement for fear that there will be ...Read more >

Women presenting for abortion are at high risk of subsequent unintended pregnancies. Little is known about contraceptive use in the post-abortion setting, but some data suggest that contraceptive discontinuation and repeat pregnancy is high. Women choosing highly effective reversible (HER) contraception at the time of abortion are more likely to experience subsequent unintended pregnancies and ...Read more >

Background: Combined hormonal contraceptive pills (COCs) are the most frequently used method of contraception by women in the United States.  However, COCs are frequently discontinued secondary to hormonal side effects.  In recent studies, phosphodiesterase 3 inhibitors (PDE3s) have been shown to inhibit oocyte maturation and impair fertility in macaques, mice, and pigs.  Cilostazol, a class ...Read more >

One in six women in the United States experiences rape or attempted rape in her lifetime. Clinicians play an important role in the immediate care of sexual assault survivors, including treatment of injury, prevention and treatment of sexually transmitted infection, prevention of pregnancy through provision of emergency contraception, collection of forensic evidence for prosecution of ...Read more >

Weight loss can markedly improve fertility, and women undergoing weight loss are at risk for unintended pregnancy.  Women are counseled to avoid pregnancy within 12-18 months of bariatric surgery and/or while taking teratogenic weight loss medications.   We hypothesized that an on-site contraceptive counseling intervention tailored to the specific needs of these women may help ...Read more >

Background and purpose: HIV positive women in the United States use less effective contraceptive methods than HIV negative women and continue to rely primarily on condoms. Integration or linking of HIV and family planning services could improve contraception use. Integration strategies should be based on the needs and preferences of the target population. We embarked ...Read more >

Although illegal abortion is believed to be widely practiced in Haiti, little data exists on such practices. This study aimed to learn about illegal abortion access, methods, knowledge sharing and perceived barriers to abortion related care. Additionally, we aimed to identify the proportion of visits to a public hospital’s maternity ward that were attributable to ...Read more >

Despite significant advancements in the management of preterm labor (PTL), preterm birth (PTB) remains one of the most poorly understood and costly outcomes in obstetrics. According to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC), 12% of deliveries each year occur preterm (prior to 37 weeks) and PTB is the most frequent cause of infant ...Read more >