A major health care goal in the US is to increase the proportion of pregnancies that are planned. Research shows that women frequently report ambivalence about pregnancy, complicating expectations about planning pregnancy. However, we may not have a full picture of pregnancy intention, broadly construed, because of the narrowness of populations studied: usually poor, young, ...Read more >

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 >

Objectives: Unsafe abortion is common in Ghana and unmet need for family planning is high. Research in Ghana shows that men’s support influences women’s use of family planning and safe abortion services. The aim of our study was to understand what motivates men to support their partners to seek an abortion or use family planning. ...Read more >

Objectives: Observational data suggest depot medroxyprogesterone acetate (DMPA) and pregnancy increase HIV susceptibility. We compared proportions of immune and HIV target cells in the female reproductive tract from women using hormonal or intrauterine contraception, no hormonal or intrauterine contraception, and pregnancy. Methods: We collected samples from the cervical transformation zone, endocervix, endometrium and blood from ...Read more >

Objectives: We compared two doses and intervals of buccal misoprostol for cervical preparation before surgical abortion at 13 to 16 weeks’ gestation. Methods: This blinded randomized trial compared 400 mcg misoprostol administered 3 hours and 600 mcg administered 1.5 hours before surgical abortion. We analyzed results for the primary outcome (procedure time) using a non-inferiority ...Read more >