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 >

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 >

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 >

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 >

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 >

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 >

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 >

Objective: To determine the timing of insertion of the levonorgestrel intrauterine system (LNG-IUS), post-placental versus interval, that results in the highest rate of LNG-IUS in place by exam at 6-months. Materials and Methods: A randomized control trial of women >36 weeks gestation who underwent vaginal delivery of a singleton and desired LNG-IUS for contraception. Women ...Read more >

In Uganda, as in many other countries around the world, social stigma plays a critical role in the social, medical, and legal marginalization of abortion care. Stigma may ultimately determine whether a woman seeks a safe versus unsafe abortion or pursues life-saving medical care when suffering postabortion complications. Effective stigma reduction interventions need to be ...Read more >

Objective: To determine if a combined oral contraceptive (COC) initiated shortly after ulipristal acetate (UPA) administration interferes with its mechanism of action. Study design: Healthy, reproductive-age women of normal BMI with proven ovulation (serum progesterone >=3ng/mL) were enrolled for 3 cycles (Cycle 1, UPA only; Cycle 2 washout; Cycle 3 UPA plus COC). During Cycles ...Read more >