Objectives: The idea of third-trimester abortion has been used politically, both to cultivate support for and opposition to abortion rights but the experiences of people who obtain such abortions is missing from public discourse. This study aimed to: 1) increase knowledge of women’s experience of seeking and obtaining third-trimester abortion and 2) document relevant clinical ...Read more >

In recognition of the barriers to optimal reproductive and sexual health for women affected by HIV, The AIDS Foundation of Chicago (AFC) recently launched the Midwest HIV Prevention and Pregnancy Planning Initiative which aims to reduce HIV infections and increase pregnancy planning among women in high HIV prevalence communities in the Midwest by increasing the ...Read more >

This Community-Based Participatory Research Grantsproject aims to expand access to reproductive health services, particularly for adolescents and young adults, in an underserved, primarily Native Hawaiian, rural community in Hawai‘i. Partners include the University of Hawai‘i Department of Obstetrics, Gynecology, and Women’s Health, the Waianae Coast Comprehensive Health Center, and Planned Parenthood of the Great Northwest ...Read more >

Objectives: Misoprostol-alone is an increasingly common method of induced abortion in countries such as Pakistan where abortion is legally restricted, but measurement poses significant challenges. The list experiment is a secret-answer technique that has been shown to more accurately measure sensitive behaviors like abortion compared to traditional face-to-face interviews. This study developed measures of misoprostol ...Read more >

Objective: To compare the effectiveness of two oral analgesic regimens in first trimester medical abortion. Methods: We randomly assigned 250 women undergoing first trimester abortion with mifepristone and misoprostol at three clinics to two ibuprofen regimens: therapeutic (800 mg every 4-6 hours as needed for pain), or prophylactic (800 mg starting 1 hour before the ...Read more >

Background: Women undergoing abortion are at high risk of poor contraceptive use and future unintended pregnancy. We sought to to investigate whether an informational phone call three weeks after having an abortion would improve contraceptive use six weeks after the procedure. Methods: This was a single-blinded, randomized controlled trial in women who chose a combined ...Read more >

Background: Over one quarter of reproductive-age women experience migraine, a condition disabling over 12 million American women annually. Hormonal contraception (HC), used by 20 million women, may cause or aggravate migraine, leading to contraceptive discontinuation. However, scientific evidence linking HC and migraine is poor. Objectives: To estimate incidence of headache due to hormonal contraception use ...Read more >

Our project aims to develop a psychometrically valid and reliable scale to use in research and in programmatic evaluation to improve clinical care. During the reporting period, project activities focused on planning and launching the multi-phase study, which has both qualitative and quantitative stages. We first developed the study protocol, and then initiated the study: ...Read more >

Objective: We developed and tested MiLARC—a theory-guided, web-based public health intervention designed to deliver accurate, targeted, and comprehensive LARC information in an engaging population-level platform. Methods: Informed by findings from our broader ongoing project to investigate and address multi-level barriers to LARC, we used a theory-guided approach to adapt an existing web-based contraceptive education intervention ...Read more >

Objectives: Increased use of long-acting reversible contraception (LARC) could significantly reduce unintended pregnancies, but less than 10% of US women currently use IUDs or implants. A critically understudied aspect of LARC methods and contraception more generally is their sexual acceptability, or their effects on women’s sexuality, which could influence continuation rates and marketing efforts. Methods: ...Read more >