title: Contraceptive use and barriers to access among newly arrested women.
abstract: Incarcerated women report high rates of prior unintended pregnancies as well as low contraceptive use. Because jail could be a site of contraception care, this study aimed to assess women's access to contraception prior to their arrest. A cross-sectional survey was administered to 228 reproductive-aged, nonpregnant women arrested in San Francisco. Twenty-one percent were currently using contraception. More than half (61%) had not used contraception in the last year, yet 11% wanted to have used it. Women in this latter subset reported greater difficulty with payment, finding a clinic, and transportation compared to women who had used contraception. In addition, 60% of all women in the sample would accept contraception if offered to them in jail. Thus, jail is a potentially important and acceptable point of access to contraception, which can circumvent some preincarceration logistical barriers.
authors.affiliation: Stanford University School of Medicine, Stanford, CA, USA. larochef@ohsu.edu
authors.forename: Flynn
authors.initials: F
authors.lastname: Larochelle
authors.forename: Cynthia
authors.initials: C
authors.lastname: Castro
authors.forename: Joe
authors.initials: J
authors.lastname: Goldenson
authors.forename: Jacqueline P
authors.initials: JP
authors.lastname: Tulsky
authors.forename: Deborah L
authors.initials: DL
authors.lastname: Cohan
authors.forename: Paul D
authors.initials: PD
authors.lastname: Blumenthal
authors.forename: Carolyn B
authors.initials: CB
authors.lastname: Sufrin
mesh_terms: D000293:Adolescent; D000328:Adult; D003267:Contraception / Q000706:statistics & numerical data*; D003268:Contraception Behavior / Q000706:statistics & numerical data*; D003430:Cross-Sectional Studies; D005260:Female; D007722:Health Knowledge, Attitudes, Practice; D006297:Health Services Accessibility / Q000706:statistics & numerical data; D006801:Humans; D011329:Prisoners / Q000706:statistics & numerical data; D011330:Prisons; D012959:Socioeconomic Factors; D055815:Young Adult