An Interprofessional Collaboration Between a Community-Based Doula Organization and Clinical Partners: The Champion Dyad Initiative.

As access to doula services expands through state Medicaid coverage and specific initiatives aimed at improving maternal health equity, there is a need to build and improve upon relationships between the doula community, hospital leaders, and clinical staff. Previous research and reports suggest rapport-building, provider education, and forming partnerships between community-based organizations and hospitals can improve such relationships. However, few interventions or programs incorporating such approaches are described in the literature.

COVID-19 Impact On Black and Latina Women: Pregnancy and Parenting.

The coronavirus-19 (COVID-19) pandemic presented unique challenges for pregnant women and birthing individuals, particularly those from Black and Latino communities. Understanding the impact of the pandemic on their experiences is crucial for providing adequate support and care during vulnerable times. This research delves into the specific effects of COVID-19 on maternal stress and resilience.

Acceptability of an organ inventory for cancer screening across gender identity and intersex status.

Objectives: To evaluate the acceptability and performance of an organ inventory as an alternative to asking about gender and/or sex assigned at birth in cancer screening.

Methods: We fielded an online, self-administered survey to a convenience sample of English- or Spanish-speaking transgender and gender-diverse (TGD), intersex, and cisgender people (>/=15 years) in the US. The survey contained an organ inventory developed with community input and questions regarding acceptability.

Use of Preferred Source of Contraception Among Users of the Pill, Patch, and Ring in the US.

Importance: Individuals who use contraceptive pills, patches, and rings must frequently interact with the health care system for continued and consistent use. As options for obtaining these methods expand, better understanding contraceptive users' preferences for source of contraception can help facilitate access.

Objective: To describe use of preferred source of contraception and to understand associations between prior reproductive health care experiences and preference for traditional in-person sources vs alternative sources.

Integrating Sexual and Reproductive Health Equity Into Public Health Goals and Metrics: Comparative Analysis of Healthy People 2030's Approach and a Person-Centered Approach to Contraceptive Access Using Population-Based Data.

Background: The Healthy People initiative is a national effort to lay out public health goals in the United States every decade. In its latest iteration, Healthy People 2030, key goals related to contraception focus on increasing the use of effective birth control (contraceptive methods classified as most or moderately effective for pregnancy prevention) among women at risk of unintended pregnancy. This narrow focus is misaligned with sexual and reproductive health equity, which recognizes that individuals' self-defined contraceptive needs are critical for monitoring contraceptive access and designing policy and programmatic strategies to increase access.

What Do Community Doulas Think About the Future of the Doula Workforce?

Introduction: Expanding access to doula care is a key strategy for improving the perinatal experiences and health outcomes of birthing people of color in the U.S. This study investigates the future of maternal healthcare in the U.

Facilitators and Barriers to Medicaid Doula Benefit Implementation in California: Perspectives From Managed Care Plans and Risk-Bearing Organizations.

Introduction: Medicaid coverage of doula services is increasing as a policy strategy to reduce maternal health inequities in the United States. However, early adopter states struggled to offer accessible, equitable Medicaid doula benefits when implementation began. California began covering doula services through its Medicaid program, Medi-Cal, in 2023.

Provider Perspectives on Multi-level Barriers and Facilitators to PrEP Access Among Latinx Sexual and Gender Minorities.

Although pre-exposure prophylaxis (PrEP) is a highly effective HIV prevention intervention, inequities in access remain among Latinx sexual and gender minorities (LSGM). There is also a gap in the PrEP literature regarding providers' perspective on access inequities. This qualitative case study sought to explore barriers and facilitators to PrEP engagement in a community-based integrated health center primarily serving Latinx populations in Northern California.

Estimates of use of preferred contraceptive method in the United States: a population-based study.

Background: In the U.S. and globally, dominant metrics of contraceptive access focus on the use of certain contraceptive methods and do not address self-defined need for contraception; therefore, these metrics fail to attend to person-centeredness, a key component of healthcare quality.

Building Capacity for Research on Community Doula Care: A Stakeholder-Engaged Process in California.

Purpose: In an effort to address persistent inequities in maternal and infant health, policymakers and advocates have pushed to expand access to doula care. Several states, including California, now cover doula services through Medicaid. As coverage expands, research on the impact of doula care will likely increase.

Estimating the effect of timing of earned income tax credit refunds on perinatal outcomes: a quasi-experimental study of California births.

Background: The largest poverty alleviation program in the US is the earned income tax credit (EITC), providing $60 billion to over 25 million families annually. While research has shown positive impacts of EITC receipt in pregnancy, there is little evidence on whether the timing of receipt may lead to differences in pregnancy outcomes. We used a quasi-experimental difference-in-differences design, taking advantage of EITC tax disbursement each spring to examine whether trimester of receipt was associated with perinatal outcomes.

Community-generated solutions to cancer inequity: recommendations from transgender, non-binary and intersex people on improving cancer screening and care.

Objective: Transgender, non-binary and intersex people are less likely to receive appropriate cancer screening for their bodies and have a higher incidence of certain cancers than cisgender people. We aimed to elicit community-generated solutions to improve cancer screening for these populations.

Methods And Analysis: We conducted six online, asynchronous focus groups in English and Spanish with transgender, non-binary, intersex and cisgender participants who were at least 15 years of age from across the USA.

Exploring Language Used in Posts on r/birthcontrol: Case Study Using Data From Reddit Posts and Natural Language Processing to Advance Contraception Research.

Background: Contraceptive choice is central to reproductive autonomy. The internet, including social networking sites like Reddit, is an important resource for people seeking contraceptive information and support. A subreddit dedicated to contraception, r/birthcontrol, provides a platform for people to post about contraception.

Supporting Birthing People and Supporting Doulas: The Impact of the COVID-19 Pandemic on a Community-Based Doula Organization in San Francisco.

Background: Beginning in March 2020, health care systems in the United States restricted the number of support people who could be present during pregnancy-related care to reduce the spread of COVID-19. We aimed to describe how SisterWeb, a community-based doula organization that employs Black, Pacific Islander, and Latinx doulas in San Francisco, California, adapted to the COVID-19 pandemic.

Methods: As part of process and outcome evaluations conducted through an academic-community partnership, we interviewed SisterWeb doulas, mentors, and leaders in 2020, 2021, and 2022 (=26 interviews).

"Have you ever wanted or needed an abortion you did not get?" Data from a 2022 nationally representative online survey in the United States.

Objective: Describe the prevalence of considering, wanting, and not obtaining a wanted abortion among a nationally representative sample of 15-44 year olds in the United States who had ever been pregnant.

Study Design: We analyzed data from ever-pregnant respondents (unweighted n = 1789) from a larger online survey about contraceptive access using the nationally representative AmeriSpeak panel. Among those not obtaining wanted abortions, weighted frequencies for sociodemographic characteristics and reasons for not getting the abortion are presented.

The association of doula support and patient experiences with hospital staff during birth in a sample of California women: An exploratory analysis.

Background: Research suggests that doula support improves birth outcomes, contributing to lower rates of preterm birth, low birthweight, and nonindicated cesarean delivery. Few studies investigate whether doula support is associated with the quality of patient-reported birth experiences in hospital settings.

Methods: This study uses data from Listening to Mothers in California, a statewide representative survey of women who gave birth in 2016 in Californian hospitals.

"They're gonna be there to advocate for me so I'm not by myself": A qualitative analysis of Black women's motivations for seeking and experiences with community doula care.

Problem: In the United States, Black women are disproportionately impacted by inequities in maternal health.

Background: Community doula support may improve birth outcomes and experiences, including lower rates of preterm birth and low birthweight and increases in positive birthing experiences. Few studies have explored client experiences with doula care, specifically community doula care.

The Deferred Action for Childhood Arrivals program and birth outcomes in California: a quasi-experimental study.

Background: The Deferred Action for Childhood Arrivals (DACA) program provides temporary relief from deportation and work permits for previously undocumented immigrants who arrived as children. DACA faced direct threats under the Trump administration. There is select evidence of the short-term impacts of DACA on population health, including on birth outcomes, but limited understanding of the long-term impacts.

Alignment of Abolition Medicine With Reproductive Justice.

Abolition medicine and reproductive justice are synergistic approaches that advance a radical vision of a racially just world. Abolition medicine and reproductive justice push medical and carceral systems towards a focus on the structural factors that impede safe and dignified parenting and childrearing, bodily autonomy, and sexual and reproductive health. Persons experiencing incarceration are stripped of authority over their health decisions, bodily autonomy, and freedom, with major implications for their well-being, sexuality, and reproduction.

Access to domestic violence advocacy by race, ethnicity and gender: The impact of a digital warm handoff from the emergency department.

Background: Racial/ethnic minority survivors of domestic violence (DV) referred from emergency departments (EDs) face barriers connecting with advocacy services due to systemic inequities. This study assesses the impact of Domestic Violence Report and Referral (DVRR), a digital mandatory reporting compliance system with integrated direct-to-advocacy referrals sent with patient consent, on survivors' likelihood of receiving advocacy by race/ethnicity and gender.

Methods: We assessed ED charts between 2014-2018 in an urban, Level 1 trauma center for DV-related positive screening, chief concern, or documentation in medical/social work notes.

Interpregnancy Interval and Birth Outcomes: A Propensity Matching Study in the California Population.

Introduction: Previous studies that used traditional multivariable and sibling matched analyses to investigate interpregnancy interval (IPI) and birth outcomes have reached mixed conclusions about a minimum recommended IPI, raising concerns about confounding. Our objective was to isolate the contribution of interpregnancy interval to the risk for adverse birth outcomes using propensity score matching.

Methods: For this retrospective cohort study, data were drawn from a California Department of Health Care Access and Information database with linked vital records and hospital discharge records (2007-2012).

Desire, acceptability, and expected resolution: A latent class analysis of current pregnancy orientation in the United States.

Background: Scant research has examined latent and contextual dimensions of pregnancy intentions, conventionally classifying unintended pregnancies as mistimed (wanted later) or unwanted (not wanted at all). Being at risk of mistimed pregnancy likely encompasses a broad spectrum of emotions and expectations regarding pregnancy and merits further exploration.

Method: Using a national sample from GfK's online KnowledgePanel of women aged 15-39 considered at risk of mistimed pregnancy in 2017 (n = 1278), we conducted a latent class analysis to assess underlying patterns of current pregnancy orientation using three items: pregnancy desire, pregnancy acceptability, and expected pregnancy resolution.