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 >

Objectives: To investigate if women desire contraception counseling when seeking first trimester abortion services. Methods: We conducted a cross-sectional study by distributing self-administered anonymous surveys to women seeking first trimester medical or surgical abortion at three clinics in Sacramento, Chicago and Cleveland. Surveys were completed after registration and before in-office counseling. We asked whether women ...Read more >

This project examined social stigma in shaping Ghanaian adolescent sexual and reproductive health experiences and specifically as a barrier to modern contraception use. The project applied a mixed-methods (qualitative and quantitative) approach across two research study phases carried out in Kumasi and Accra, Ghana. The first study phase consisted of qualitative work to provide a ...Read more >

Objectives: The research extended an ongoing prospective cohort study of 400 women in Texas to assess the risk of an unintended pregnancy during the two years following childbirth, and how that risk varies according to both the type of contraception being used and whether a woman’s method is the method that she would like to ...Read more >

Effective contraceptive counseling is essential to providing women with high quality contraception that they can use correctly and consistently and thereby avoid unintended pregnancies, but what makes counseling effective is a growing area of research. One aspect of counseling that has received little attention is incorporation of social network influence into the discussion. With a ...Read more >