Postpartum contraceptive use and interpregnancy interval among women with opioid use disorder

The purpose of this study was to describe postpartum contraceptive utilization patterns among women with OUD and evaluate the relationship between postpartum contraceptive method choice and interpregnancy interval.

A retrospective cohort study was conducted with women in Pennsylvania Medicaid with a diagnosis of OUD between 2008 and 2013. Postpartum contraceptive use within 90 days after delivery was identified through claims data and categorized by effectiveness (highly-effective, effective, and no method observed). Kaplan-Meier time-to-event analyses and multivariable-adjusted marginal Cox regression models were used to evaluate the relationship between postpartum contraceptive method choice and interpregnancy interval. Multivariable logistic regression analyses were used to identify risk factors predictive of a short interpregnancy interval (≤18 months).

We identified 7805 women (9260 pregnancies) who had a diagnosis of OUD. Nearly three-quarters (74.5%) had no contraceptive method observed, 18.1% received an effective method, and only 7.4% received a highly-effective method (LARC or female sterilization) during the postpartum period. In Kaplan-Meier analyses, no significant differences were found in the time-to-next pregnancy interval when an effective contraceptive method vs. no contraceptive method was used. In multivariable analysis, predictors of a significantly longer interpregnancy interval were LARC use (HR 0.43, 95% CI 0.26-0.69), gestational hypertension (HR 0.80, 95% CI 0.65-0.97), and age (HR 0.95, 95% CI 0.94-0.96). Approximately 20% of women with OUD had a short interpregnancy interval.

Few women with OUD use highly-effective postpartum contraception, which is protective against short interpregnancy intervals.