Improving birth control service utilization by offering services prerelease vs postincarceration

We examined whether incarcerated women would substantially increase birth control initiation if contraceptive services were available within the prison compared with after their release back into the community.

During phase 1 of the study, a nurse educator met with women at the Rhode Island Adult Correctional Institute and offered them referrals for contraceptive services at a community health clinic after their release. During phase 2, contraceptive services were offered to women during their incarceration.

The majority of the participants (77.5%) reported a desire to initiate use of birth control methods. Within 4 weeks of their release, 4.4% of phase 1 participants initiated use of a contraceptive method, compared with 39.1% of phase 2 participants (odds ratio [OR]=14.6; 95% confidence interval [CI]=5.5, 38.8).

Provision of contraceptive services to women during their incarceration is feasible and greatly increases birth control initiation compared to providing services only in the community.