Society of Family Planning: Grants

Does the perception of noncontraceptive benefits lead to higher rates of contraceptive continuation for adolescents and young adult women?

Aaron Lazorwitz, MD, University of Colorado

There are many safe and highly effective forms of contraception available in the US to prevent unintended pregnancies. These methods also offer short and long-term noncontraceptive benefits. Unintended pregnancy, however, continues to be a public health concern in the US. It is well established that unintended pregnancies are associated with infrequent use and method discontinuation ...Read more >

Etonogestrel-releasing subdermal contraceptive implant for adolescents in the postpartum period: A randomized controlled trial

Amy Bryant, MD, MSCR, University of North Carolina, Chapel Hill

The proposed study is a randomized controlled trial comparing immediate postpartum to 6 week postpartum etonogestrel implant insertion among adolescent women. This study has received a grant for $20,000 through the American College of Obstetricians and Gynecologists Research Fellowships Program/ Bayer HealthCare Pharmaceuticals Research Fellowship in Long Term Contraception. The purpose of this proposal is ...Read more >

Feasibility of an immersive virtual reality intervention for first trimester abortion: A pilot study

Shiliang Zhang, BS, University of California, Los Angeles

Perception of pain during surgical abortion is nuanced and affected by physical as well as psychosocial factors—notably the experience of anxiety—which can significantly increase perceived pain during abortion. It is found that women who suffer from anxiety are more likely to experience greater pain during gynecological procedures. Furthermore, pain management in the setting of gynecologic ...Read more >

Religious healthcare systems and the impact on sexual and reproductive health service delivery in the Chicago metropolitan area, Phase 2

Debra Stulberg, MD, University of Chicago

Religious hospitals control a growing share of healthcare in the US. In Catholic hospitals, clinicians must follow the Ethical and Religious Directives for Catholic Healthcare Services, which restrict provision of contraception, abortion, sterilization, and fertility treatment. Reproductive health policies in other (non-Catholic) religious hospitals are less well understood. In Chicago, two of the three largest ...Read more >

When the punishment is pregnancy: Women denied abortions because of incarceration

Carolyn Sufrin, MD, PhD, Johns Hopkins University

Abortion restrictions disproportionately impact vulnerable populations. Incarcerated women, despite retaining their constitutional right to abortion, face restricted abortion access due to absent or inconsistent institutional policies, court order requirements, payment restrictions, and other impediments on top of the usual barriers women encounter. The over 210,000 incarcerated women are disproportionately women of color and most are ...Read more >

The role of evidence in shaping reproductive health policy in the US

Katie Woodruff, MPH, University of California, Berkeley

Objectives: This study explores how legislators use scientific evidence in making policy on two key reproductive health issues: abortion, and alcohol use in pregnancy. Methods: We conducted semi-structured interviews with state legislators and their aides in three US states that have a mix of policies on abortion and alcohol use in pregnancy. Our questions explored ...Read more >

Building a national contraceptive registry for multiple complex medical conditions: Improving contraceptive care for women through engagement

Emily Godfrey, MD, MPH, University of Washington

Our interdisciplinary partnership needs this Society of Family Planning (SFP) Phase I grant to lay groundwork for developing a proof-of-concept contraceptive registry with patients and advocacy organizations as stewards. We propose using a step-wise approach by focusing first on a single medical condition, cystic fibrosis (CF), aiming to create a platform for additional complex medical ...Read more >

Birth control tales: Development and testing of theory based contraception educational comics for young adults

Aparna Sridhar, MD, MPH, University of California, Los Angeles

Young adults (age 18-29 years) have the highest rates of unintended pregnancy in the US. 40% of these unintended pregnancies ended in abortion. Prior studies have shown the need for new educational strategies to educate this population about contraceptive methods to prevent unintended pregnancies. Emerging research suggest comics can serve educational purposes. Comics can help ...Read more >

Mentoring recently graduated family planning fellows as a transition to independent investigators

Alisa Goldberg, MD, MPH, Planned Parenthood League of Massachusetts

This SFP award enabled me to effectively expand the patient-oriented research program at Planned Parenthood League of Massachusetts (PPLM) and mentor my graduated fellows as they transition in their academic careers to completely independent researchers. I am very proud of the productive, patient-oriented research program that I have built at PPLM. This research program has ...Read more >

Effect of timing of postpartum depot medroxyprogesterone acetate administration on breastfeeding continuation contraceptive usage and post partum depression: A randomized trial

Beatrice Chen, MD, MPH, University of Pittsburgh

Objective: To evaluate the impact of timing of postpartum depot medroxyprogesterone acetate (DMPA) initiation on breastfeeding and effective contraceptive use over 28 weeks. Methods: We enrolled antepartum (n=86) and postpartum (n=98) women planning DMPA use for postpartum contraception. Women became ineligible if they did not initiate breastfeeding, decided against DMPA, or refused randomization. Participants were ...Read more >