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 >

Objective: To determine if differences exist in the pharmacokinetics of levonorgestrel-only emergency contraception (LNG-EC) in normal, obese and extremely obese users. Methods: Healthy, reproductive-age, ovulatory women with normal (BMI 18.5-24.9 kg/m2), obese (BMI = 30-39.9 kg/m2) and extremely obese (BMI >= 40 kg/m2) BMIs were orally administered 1.5 mg LNG-EC. Dosing occurred on day 8 ...Read more >

Background: After one of the longest drug review processes in Canadian history, in July 2015 Health Canada approved mifepristone/misoprostol, the gold-standard of medication abortion, for early pregnancy termination. However, Health Canada’s decision included a number of non-evidence based restrictions with respect to both gestational age eligibility and service delivery. Mifegymiso was finally introduced in early ...Read more >

The goal of our interdisciplinary project is to bring together researchers from three distinct fields—epidemiology, psychology, and medicine—to illuminate the experiences of sexual minorities who have had a teen pregnancy. We began a qualitative study with sexual minority women in Phase I of this grant, during which time we secured institutional review board approval, developed ...Read more >

California and Oregon were the first states in the US to expand the scope of pharmacist practice to include prescribing self-administered hormonal contraception under a statewide protocol. Both states implemented their pharmacist protocols in 2016. In California, wide-scale implementation of this law has been slow for a number of reasons, including that many retail pharmacy ...Read more >

Our formative work with abortion advocates revealed a need for more evidence about the safety of abortion, incidence of second trimester abortion, and the impact of the change in abortion law in Mexico City in 2007. Building on our current productive collaborations and responding to identified research needs, the goal of this proposal is to ...Read more >