Objectives: Increased use of long-acting reversible contraception (LARC) could significantly reduce unintended pregnancies, but less than 10% of US women currently use IUDs or implants. A critically understudied aspect of LARC methods and contraception more generally is their sexual acceptability, or their effects on women’s sexuality, which could influence continuation rates and marketing efforts. Methods: ...Read more >

Objectives: to enumerate facilitators of and barriers to the provision of long-acting reversible contraception (LARC) in community health centers (CHCs), in order to identify potential points of intervention to better support provision of these methods. Methods: Focus groups discussions (with clinicians and staff who have direct patient contact) and key informant interviews (with administrators) at ...Read more >

Objectives: The objectives of this study were to develop a deeper understanding of the reasons for and experiences with early discontinuation of the contraceptive implant in an adolescent population, and to identify areas of need for improvement in counseling for implant placement and removal. Methods: This is a qualitative study, consisting of semi-structured interviews of ...Read more >

In 2011, the 82nd Texas Legislature enacted four key pieces of legislation restricting access to family planning: the state budget for contraceptive and reproductive health screening provision was cut by two-thirds; a tiered funding system directing funds away from the clinics providing the majority of services was set up; the Women’s Health Program Medicaid waiver ...Read more >

Objectives: Understanding how women are influenced by interpersonal communication about contraception can inform interventions that improve contraceptive use. The aim of our research was to develop the methods and tools needed to conduct a longitudinal cohort study of social networks’ influence on contraceptive use. Methods: We developed survey instruments for the longitudinal cohort study in ...Read more >

Background: Concerns have been raised about the consequences of enthusiastic promotion of long-acting reversible contraceptives (LARCs) for women’s reproductive autonomy, particularly among underserved or vulnerable groups including postpartum women. We developed the Birth Control After Pregnancy decision aid as a strategy for upholding patient-centered decision-making about postpartum contraception and, in particular, supporting access to postpartum ...Read more >

The Association of Professors of Gynecology and Obstetrics include abortion education as a core objective for medical students. Medical schools often use brief clinical exposure to abortion to meet this objective. For many students, this encounter serves as their only opportunity to observe this common but potentially controversial procedure. No study has asked students to ...Read more >

Objectives: The idea of third-trimester abortion has been used politically, both to cultivate support for and opposition to abortion rights but the experiences of people who obtain such abortions is missing from public discourse. This study aimed to: 1) increase knowledge of women’s experience of seeking and obtaining third-trimester abortion and 2) document relevant clinical ...Read more >

In recognition of the barriers to optimal reproductive and sexual health for women affected by HIV, The AIDS Foundation of Chicago (AFC) recently launched the Midwest HIV Prevention and Pregnancy Planning Initiative which aims to reduce HIV infections and increase pregnancy planning among women in high HIV prevalence communities in the Midwest by increasing the ...Read more >

This Community-Based Participatory Research Grantsproject aims to expand access to reproductive health services, particularly for adolescents and young adults, in an underserved, primarily Native Hawaiian, rural community in Hawai‘i. Partners include the University of Hawai‘i Department of Obstetrics, Gynecology, and Women’s Health, the Waianae Coast Comprehensive Health Center, and Planned Parenthood of the Great Northwest ...Read more >