Reassessing Unintended Pregnancy: Toward a Patient-centered Approach to Family Planning.
Underserved women, especially those with low incomes and from racial and ethnic minorities, experience a disproportionate share of unintended pregnancies in the United States. Although unintended pregnancy rates are general markers of women's health and status, they may not accurately capture women's experiences of these pregnancies or their social circumstances. A patient-centered approach to family planning optimizes women's reproductive preferences, is cognizant of historical harms and current disparities, and may more comprehensively address the issue of unintended pregnancy. Clinicians, researchers, and policy makers can all adopt a patient-centered approach to help underserved women regain their reproductive autonomy.
Family Planning Division, Department of Obstetrics & Gynecology, University of North Carolina, 101 Manning Drive, Campus Box #7570, Chapel Hill, NC 27514, USA. Electronic address: Jessica_morse@med.unc.edu.
Jessica E
JE
Morse
Family Planning Division, Department of Obstetrics & Gynecology, University of North Carolina, 101 Manning Drive, Campus Box #7570, Chapel Hill, NC 27514, USA.
Shanthi
S
Ramesh
Department of Obstetrics, Gynecology & Reproductive Sciences, University of California, 2356 Sutter Street, 5th Floor, San Francisco, CA 94143, USA.
Andrea
A
Jackson
D000328:Adult; D003267:Contraception / Q000706:statistics & numerical data*; D003268:Contraception Behavior / Q000208:ethnology / Q000706:statistics & numerical data*; D037001:Directive Counseling; D005193:Family Planning Services / Q000458:organization & administration* / Q000592:standards; D005260:Female; D006297:Health Services Accessibility / Q000458:organization & administration / Q000706:statistics & numerical data*; D006801:Humans; D011247:Pregnancy; D049168:Pregnancy, Unplanned; D012736:Sex Education; D012959:Socioeconomic Factors; D014481:United States / Q000453:epidemiology; D016387:Women's Health / Q000592:standards*
Contraceptive counseling; Disparities; Family planning; Patient-centered care; Reproductive life planning; Underserved women; Unintended pregnancy