Highly Effective Birth Control Use Before and After Women's Incarceration

Area of Science:

• Reproductive Health
• Criminology
• Public Health

Background:

• Women involved in the criminal justice system experience high rates of unintended pregnancy.
• Inconsistent contraceptive use is a significant issue within this population.
• Understanding factors influencing birth control use is crucial for reproductive health interventions.

Purpose of the Study:

• To examine factors associated with highly effective birth control use in incarcerated women.
• To assess changes in birth control utilization before and after incarceration.
• To inform interventions for unintended pregnancy prevention.

Main Methods:

• Longitudinal study design involving surveys with 102 women in jail.
• Follow-up surveys with 66 women 6 months post-incarceration.
• Stepwise logistic regression to analyze influencing factors.

Main Results:

• Highly effective birth control use increased from 42% pre-incarceration to 54% post-release.
• Consistent birth control use and alcohol problems were associated with pre-incarceration use.
• Previous pregnancies were the sole factor linked to post-release highly effective birth control use.

Conclusions:

• Findings can guide clinical and public health efforts to prevent unintended pregnancies in incarcerated women.
• Interventions should address both in-jail and post-release periods.
• Targeted strategies are needed to support consistent use of highly effective contraception.