Family Planning Perspectives articles from March 1999

Family Planning Perspectives archives from March 1999

What Is This Thing Called Sex?
March 1, 1999... It's perfectly clear to college students that engaging in penile-vaginal intercourse constitutes "having sex," but whether to classify a variety of other intimate behaviors under that heading is considerably murkier.[1] All 353 female and 245...

No Change in Maternal Mortality.
March 1, 1999... Since 1982, the U.S. maternal mortality ratio has hovered around seven or eight deaths per 100,000 live births, more than twice the level that the Public Health Service set as a goal for the year 2000.[1] Ratios have remained steady for both...

$107 Million Judgment on `Hit List'.
March 1, 1999... On February 2, a group of doctors who sued antiabortion activists over an Internet site that lists the names and addresses of abortion providers were awarded $107 million in damages by a federal jury in Portland, Oregon.[1] The suit was based...

Don't Leave Home Without Them.
March 1, 1999... Most British young adults who have sexual intercourse while traveling alone abroad use condoms, but patterns of risk behavior vary between men and women.[1] Of 400 survey respondents aged 18-34 who had had intercourse while traveling solo...

Forced Sex and Teenage Fatherhood.
March 1, 1999... Male high school students who have ever been forced to have sexual contact have elevated odds of being involved in a teenage pregnancy, according to findings from the 1995 Massachusetts Youth Risk Behavior Survey.[1] Among 824 sexually active...

Is FACE Effective?
March 1, 1999... The number of antiabortion incidents at 42 facilities that perform abortions and that were frequent targets of such acts in the early 1990s has declined, and most of the providers attribute the change at least partly to the 1994 Freedom of...

Homeless Teenagers' Pregnancy Risk.
March 1, 1999... Homeless and runaway teenagers have considerably higher pregnancy rates than those living in households, according to findings from three surveys conducted in 1992.[1] Some 48% of 14-17-year-old respondents who were living on the street and 33%...

For Young Mothers, One Is Enough.
March 1, 1999... Teenage women with one child are becoming increasingly unlikely to have a second birth during adolescence, according to nationwide vital statistics data.[1] In 1991, some 221 births occurred per 1,000 women aged 15-19 who already had one child;...

Elective Cesarean Lowers HIV Risk.
March 1, 1999... The chances that an HIV-infected woman will transmit the virus to her infant during delivery are dramatically reduced if she undergoes an elective cesarean, according to results of a meta-analysis involving data on 8,533 mother-child pairs.[1]...

Ozzie and Harriet Live: Know Where?
March 1, 1999... Even as increasing numbers of Japanese women work, sex role stereotypes remain common in Japan, according to a report that brings together data from several surveys conducted throughout the 1990s.[1] Overall, 52% of women and 65% of men believe...

Contraceptive Failure Rates: New Estimates From the 1995 National Survey of Family Growth.
March 1, 1999... Context: Unintended pregnancy remains a major public health concern in the United States. Information on pregnancy rates among contraceptive users is needed to guide medical professionals' recommendations and individuals' choices of...

Contraceptive Failure, Method-Related Discontinuation And Resumption of Use: Results from the 1995 National Survey of Family Growth.
March 1, 1999... Context: Half of all pregnancies in the United States are unintended. Of these, half occur to women who were practicing contraception in the month they conceived, and others occur when couples stop use because they find their method difficult...

Measuring Contraceptive Use Patterns Among Teenage and Adult Women.
March 1, 1999... Context: Measures of contraceptive use at one point in time do not account for its changing nature. A measure that addresses the pattern of method use over time may better predict the cumulative risk of unintended pregnancy. Methods: Women...

Corrections.
March 1, 1999... In "Mainstreaming Contraceptive Services in Managed Care--Five States' Experiences," by Rachel Benson Gold, Jacqueline E. Darroch and Jennifer J. Frost [1998, 30(5):204-211], the proportions of plans offering no written information on...

Evaluation of the Efficacy of a Polyurethane Condom: Results from a Randomized, Controlled Clinical Trial.
March 1, 1999... Context: Condoms made of latex are not comfortable or appropriate for all consumers. Polyurethane condoms may provide a needed alternative. Methods: In a double-masked study, 805 monogamous couples were randomized to use either the...

Preventing Repeat Adolescent Pregnancies with Early Adoption of the Contraceptive Implant.
March 1, 1999... Context: Even in intensive, adolescent-oriented programs, in which access to highly effective contraceptives is guaranteed, repeat adolescent pregnancies commonly occur. Methods: To assess whether adoption of the contraceptive implant...

The `Illegitimacy Bonus' and State Efforts To Reduce Out-of-Wedlock Births.(states respond to federal plan to reduce out-of-wedlock pregnancies.)
March 1, 1999... Out-of-wedlock births have increased dramatically in recent decades and now account for about one-third of U.S. births each year.[1] Although most nonmarital births are to women who are not on welfare, Congress used the 1996 welfare reform law...

Why Must One `Restart' a Method That Is Still Working? A Case for Redefining Injectable Discontinuation.(contraceptives)
March 1, 1999... Combined oral contraceptives and male condoms, which have typical pregnancy rates of 5% and 14%,[1] respectively, account for 27% and 20% of all U.S. contraceptive users, according to data from the 1995 National Survey of Family Growth.[2] In...

Independent Predictors of Chlamydia and Gonorrhea Do Not Identify Adolescents at High Risk of Infection.
March 1, 1999... Rates of infection with chlamydia are high among Baltimore adolescents. According to a study of sexually active female adolescents who attended a variety of types of clinics, 29% tested positive for chlamydia at least once, and the median time...

Most U.S. Couples Who Seek Surgical Sterilization Do So for Contraception; Fewer Than 25% Desire Reversal.
March 1, 1999... Two-fifths of ever-married U.S. women aged 1544 or their husbands (or cohabiting partners) have been surgically sterilized; most of these women have had a tubal ligation. The most common reasons that women give for undergoing surgical...

Zidovudine Given to Infants Soon After Birth Reduces Perinatal HIV Transmission.
March 1, 1999... When infants born to HIV-infected women are given zidovudine shortly after birth, they have a reduced risk of contracting the infection, even if their mothers did not receive recommended prophylactic zidovudine therapy during pregnancy and...

Unwanted Pregnancies Continue Among Finnish Women Past the Age of 40.
March 1, 1999... Finnish men and women hope to have about two children in their lifetime. The majority of married women aged 25-49 practice contraception, but their choice of method varies with age. The pill is the most commonly used among women aged 25-29,...

Academically Oriented Teenage Women Have Reduced Pregnancy Risk.
March 1, 1999... Adolescent women who have good grades and test scores, high educational aspirations and a substantial level of involvement in school organizations are less likely than others to have a nonmarital birth while in high school, according to an...

Levonorgestrel Is a Better Emergency Contraceptive Than the Combination Pill.
March 1, 1999... Women who use a levonorgestrel-only regimen of emergency contraception are about one-third as likely as women using the Yuzpe regimen to become pregnant following treatment; they are also significantly less likely to experience nausea and...

Nearly 10% of Teenage Mothers Experience Violence While Pregnant.(Alaska study using 1991-1994 data)
March 1, 1999... About one in 10 teenage mothers are physically harmed by someone they know during pregnancy or shortly after giving birth, and those aged 13-17 are twice as likely as mothers aged 20 and older to experience such violence after delivering an...

Long-Term Users of Injectable Contraceptives May Experience Substantially Diminished Bone Density.
March 1, 1999... Women who use the injectable contraceptive depot medroxyprogesterone acetate (DMPA) have significantly reduced bone mineral density, according to a controlled cross-sectional study in New Zealand.[1] Women who begin using the method before...