The Availability and Use of Postpartum LARC in Mexico and Among Hispanics in the United States.

Objectives In the 1980s, policy makers in Mexico led a national family planning initiative focused, in part, on postpartum IUD use. The transformative impact of this initiative is not well known, and is relevant to current efforts in the United States (US) to increase women's use of long-acting reversible contraception (LARC). Methods Using six nationally representative surveys, we illustrate the dramatic expansion of postpartum LARC in Mexico and compare recent estimates of LARC use immediately following delivery through 18 months postpartum to estimates from the US. We also examine unmet demand for postpartum LARC among 321 Mexican-origin women interviewed in a prospective study on postpartum contraception in Texas in 2012, and describe differences in the Mexican and US service environments using a case study with one of these women. Results Between 1987 and 2014, postpartum LARC use in Mexico doubled, increasing from 9 to 19 % immediately postpartum and from 13 to 26 % by 18 months following delivery. In the US, <0.1 % of women used an IUD or implant immediately following delivery and only 9 % used one of these methods at 18 months. Among postpartum Mexican-origin women in Texas, 52 % of women wanted to use a LARC method at 6 months following delivery, but only 8 % used one. The case study revealed provider and financial barriers to postpartum LARC use. Conclusions Some of the strategies used by Mexico's health authorities in the 1980s, including widespread training of physicians in immediate postpartum insertion of IUDs, could facilitate women's voluntary initiation of postpartum LARC in the US.

Challenging the courtesy bias interpretation of favorable clients' perceptions of family planning delivery.

Favorable client perceptions of provider's interpersonal behavior in contraceptive delivery, documented in clinic exit questionnaires, appear to contradict results from qualitative evaluations and are attributed to clients' courtesy bias. In this study, trained simulated clients requested services from Ministry of Health providers in three countries. Providers excelled in courteousness/respect in Peru and Rwanda; in India, providers were less courteous and respectful when the simulated clients chose the pill. Privacy and two-way communication were less prevalent in all three countries. The findings challenge the courtesy bias interpretation. Global results from qualitative studies may have expressed the views of the minority of clients who are not treated well by providers.

Induced abortion and unintended pregnancy in Guatemala.

CONTEXT: Although Guatemalan law permits induced abortion only to save a woman's life, many women obtain abortions, often under unsafe conditions and in response to an unintended pregnancy. Recent studies indicate that unsafe abortion is a key factor contributing to maternal morbidity and mortality in the country, but no national data on the incidence of abortion exist. METHODS: Surveys of all hospitals that treat women for postabortion complications and of 74 professionals who are knowledgeable about the conditions of abortion provision in Guatemala were conducted in 2003. Indirect estimation techniques were used to calculate the number of induced abortions performed annually. Abortion rates and ratios and the level of unintended pregnancy were calculated for the nation and its eight regions. RESULTS: Nearly 65,000 induced abortions are performed annually in Guatemala, and about 21,600 women are hospitalized for treatment of complications. Abortions occur at a rate of 24 per 1,000 women aged 15-49, and there is one abortion for every six births. The abortion rate is higher than average in the Southwest (less developed, mainly indigenous population) and Metropolitan (more developed, mainly nonindigenous population) regions (29-30 per 1,000 women). Over a quarter of all births are unplanned; combining unplanned births with abortions yields estimates that 32% of pregnancies in Guatemala are unintended, with an unintended pregnancy rate of 66 per 1,000 women. CONCLUSIONS: Unsafe abortion has a significant impact on women's health in Guatemala. Comprehensive government programs are needed to address the issues of unintended pregnancy and unsafe abortion, with attention to regional differences.

Does a competitive voucher program for adolescents improve the quality of reproductive health care? A simulated patient study in Nicaragua.

BACKGROUND: Little is known about how sexual and reproductive (SRH) health can be made accessible and appropriate to adolescents. This study evaluates the impact and sustainability of a competitive voucher program on the quality of SRH care for poor and underserved female adolescents and the usefulness of the simulated patient (SP) method for such evaluation. METHODS: 28,711 vouchers were distributed to adolescents in disadvantaged areas of Managua that gave free-of-charge access to SRH care in 4 public, 10 non-governmental and 5 private clinics. Providers received training and guidelines, treatment protocols, and financial incentives for each adolescent attended. All clinics were visited by female adolescent SPs requesting contraception. SPs were sent one week before, during (with voucher) and one month after the intervention. After each consultation they were interviewed with a standardized questionnaire. Twenty-one criteria were scored and grouped into four categories. Clinics' scores were compared using non-parametric statistical methods (paired design: before-during and before-after). Also the influence of doctors' characteristics was tested using non-parametric statistical methods. RESULTS: Some aspects of service quality improved during the voucher program. Before the program started 8 of the 16 SPs returned 'empty handed', although all were eligible contraceptive users. During the program 16/17 left with a contraceptive method (p = 0.01). Furthermore, more SPs were involved in the contraceptive method choice (13/17 vs.5/16, p = 0.02). Shared decision-making on contraceptive method as well as condom promotion had significantly increased after the program ended. Female doctors had best scores before- during and after the intervention. The improvements were more pronounced among male doctors and doctors older than 40, though these improvements did not sustain after the program ended. CONCLUSION: This study illustrates provider-related obstacles adolescents often face when requesting contraception. The care provided during the voucher program improved for some important outcomes. The improvements were more pronounced among providers with the weakest initial performance. Shared decision-making and condom promotion were improvements that sustained after the program ended. The SP method is suitable and relatively easy to apply in monitoring clinics' performance, yielding important and relevant information. Objective assessment of change through the SP method is much more complex and expensive.

Re-building distribution networks to assure future microbicide access.

The first candidate topical microbicides--products designed to reduce women's risk of HIV infection--are now in the final stages of efficacy testing, and, if successful, could start to be available by the end of the decade. Advocates in public health and international development are already discussing how to expedite access to this new technology in countries where it could have the largest public health impact. The World Health Organization (WHO), World Bank, and the European Union support the integration of family planning and HIV programs. Such integration is impeded by U.S. policy, funding restrictions, and reluctance to integrate family planning and HIV/AIDS funding. This article describes how these policies weaken, rather than strengthen, the capacity of distribution networks to play an urgently needed role in microbicide roll-out when the time comes.

Intervalo gestacional en mujeres no expuestas a métodos anticonceptivos / Gestational interval in women not exposed to birth control

Para conocer la espera natural del primer embarazo y la influencia de lagunas variables biosociales, realizamos un estudio retrospectivo en 1120 primigestas, atendidas en cuatro principales Instituciones de Salud en la Ciudad de México: IMSS, ISSSTE, SS y DDF. La recolección de datos se hizo mediante una encuesta aplicada en las primeras horas posteriores a la resolución del embarazo. Ninguna refirió haber utilizado métodos anticonceptivos previamente. El análisis simple de algunas de las variables reveló: edad del primer embarazo, 22.1 ñ 19.9 meses, auque el logro del mismo se observó en 67 por ciento dentro de los doce meses siguientes al inicio de vida sexual. La resolución fue parto eutóxico en 54 por ciento, existiendo una asociación significativa entre la edad y el intervalo gestacional. Al parecer esta és la primera información de ese período crítico de la fertilidad en nuestro ambiente

The impact on breastfeeding and pregnancy status of household contraceptive distribution in rural Haiti.

This paper presents data from an experimental project which distributed oral contraceptives, foam, and condoms to households in three rural areas of Haiti between January 1978 and March 1980. The contraceptive distribution had little apparent impact on traditional, prolonged breastfeeding patterns, and the percentage of women pregnant after eight months of field operations declined over 35 per cent in the two areas where contraceptive acceptance and use were highest. (Am J Public Health 1982; 72:825-838.)