Family planning is hailed as one of the great public health achievements of the last century, and worldwide acceptance has risen to three-fifths of exposed couples. In many countries, however, uptake of modern contraception is constrained by limited access and weak service delivery, and the burden of unintended pregnancy is still large. This review focuses on family planning's efficacy in preventing unintended pregnancies and their health burden. The authors first describe an epidemiologic framework for reproductive behavior and pregnancy intendedness and use it to guide the review of 21 recent, individual-level studies of pregnancy intentions, health outcomes, and contraception. They then review population-level studies of family planning's relation to reproductive, maternal, and newborn health benefits. Family planning is documented to prevent mother-child transmission of human immunodeficiency virus, contribute to birth spacing, lower infant mortality risk, and reduce the number of abortions, especially unsafe ones. It is also shown to significantly lower maternal mortality and maternal morbidity associated with unintended pregnancy. Still, a new generation of research is needed to investigate the modest correlation between unintended pregnancy and contraceptive use rates to derive the full health benefits of a proven and cost-effective reproductive technology.

HIV pre-exposure prophylaxis (PrEP) presents new opportunities for HIV prevention. While women comprise approximately 20% of new HIV infections in the US, significant questions remain about how to most effectively facilitate PrEP uptake for this population. Family planning clinics are a dominant source of health care for young women and support an estimated 4.5 million women annually. We explore characteristics associated with HIV risk perception and PrEP acceptability among young adult women seeking reproductive health services in a high-prevalence setting. A cross-sectional, clinic-based survey was conducted with women ages 18–35 (n=146) seeking health care at two family planning clinics in the greater Baltimore, Maryland area, from January to April, 2014. An estimated 22% of women reported being worried about HIV risk, and 60% reported they would consider taking a pill daily to prevent HIV. In adjusted models, HIV-related worry was associated with having no college education, being single or dating more than one person, practicing consistent condom use during vaginal sex, and having ever traded sex. PrEP acceptability was significantly associated with being Black (71% vs. 49%, AOR 2.23, CI: 1.89–2.64) and having ever traded sex (83% vs. 58%, AOR 4.94, CI: 2.00–12.22). For women with a history of intimate partner violence (IPV), PrEP acceptability was significantly lower (57% vs. 62%, AOR .71, CI: .59–.85) relative to their non-abused counterparts. Results suggest that family planning clinics may be a natural setting for PrEP discussion and roll-out. They should be considered in the context of integrating HIV prevention with reproductive health services. Women with a trauma history may need additional support for implementing HIV prevention in the form of PrEP.

In real-world family planning clinic settings, a brief assessment and support intervention was successful in communicating provider caring and increasing knowledge of violence-related resources, endpoints previously deemed valuable by IPV survivors. Results emphasize the merit of universal education in IPV/RC clinical interventions over seeking IPV disclosure.

This study examined the associations of reproductive coercion (RC) with mental health of Black adolescent and young adult women. We tested RC as a predictor of depression and post-traumatic stress disorder (PTSD) symptoms. We also explored the interaction of exposure to RC and physical and sexual intimate partner violence (IPV) as they relate to depression and PTSD symptoms. A primarily community-based convenience sample of 188 self-identified Black women, aged 18 to 25 years, in Baltimore, Maryland, completed computer-based cross-sectional surveys. Lifetime RC (37.8%) and IPV (48.9%) were prevalent in this sample. Nearly 10% of the young women reported experiencing RC without IPV; 38% of the sample reported experiencing both types of violence. Depression (69%) and PTSD (47.1%) symptoms were more prevalent among women with RC than among women without RC. Adjusted results revealed RC and IPV were independently associated with depression (adjusted odds ratioRC = 2.86, 95% CI = [1.38, 5.94] and adjusted odds ratioIPV = 5.15, 95% CI = [2.47, 10.76]). Similarly, RC and IPV were independently associated with PTSD (adjusted odds ratioRC = 2.41, 95% CI = [1.15, 5.08] and adjusted odds ratioIPV = 3.04, 95% CI = [1.39, 6.63]). Findings suggest that RC and IPV independently contribute to mental health morbidities among this population of women. Current policies in health care practice increasingly recommend provision of screening for IPV, including RC. These practices should extend to women receiving services in community-based settings, thus strengthening the linkage to referral for further mental health treatment and victim service support. In the context of the social burdens affecting young Black women’s health, a comprehensive approach that integrates mental health and reproductive/sexual health care is essential for women reporting RC experiences.