Transcutaneous Electric Nerve Stimulation for Analgesia During Outpatient Endometrial Biopsy: A Randomized Controlled Trial.

Objective: To evaluate whether transcutaneous electric nerve stimulation (TENS) decreases pain at the time of outpatient endometrial biopsy.

Methods: We conducted a randomized, double-blind trial of active TENS compared with placebo TENS at the time of endometrial biopsy. The primary outcome was pain measured on a 0- to 100-mm visual analog scale immediately after biopsy, with secondary outcomes including satisfaction and tolerability of TENS and pain scores at other procedural time points.

Measuring abortion in claims data: What is the state of the science?

Health care insurance claims are an increasingly common data source for health outcomes research. While researchers have successfully used several claims data sources for many obstetric and gynecologic questions, the use of claims data for abortion and contraception research poses a number of challenges. In this update on the state of the science in identifying abortion in claims data, we review claims data generally, describe commonly used claims data sources, and detail specific reasons why abortion may be underestimated in claims even when employing best practices.

Not all Medicaid for pregnancy care is delivered equally.

Objectives: Pregnant beneficiaries in the two primary Medicaid eligibility categories, traditional Medicaid and pregnancy Medicaid, have differing access to care especially in the preconception and postpartum periods. Pregnancy Medicaid has higher income limits for eligibility than traditional Medicaid but only provides coverage during and for a limited time period after pregnancy. Our objective was to determine the association between type of Medicaid (traditional Medicaid and pregnancy Medicaid) on receipt of outpatient care during the perinatal period.

Induced Abortion for Maternal Cardiac Indication: 2 Cases of Unintended Pregnancy With LVAD.

We present 2 cases of patients with left ventricular assist device who underwent an induced abortion in the first and second trimester, respectively. Comprehensive counseling is critical for this patient population, and close coordination of interdisciplinary teams is required in the setting of continuing pregnancy or medically indicated abortion.

The #IVF journey: content analysis of IVF videos on TikTok.

Research Question: What patient populations and outcomes are depicted on IVF videos on the short-form video-sharing application 'TikTok'?

Design: This cross-sectional study investigated the 100 most-viewed videos utilizing the #IVF hashtag on TikTok. Only videos in English or Spanish were included in the analysis. An automated web-scraping platform was used to extract information from these videos.

Postpartum Expansion of Emergency Medicaid is Associated with Increased Receipt of Recommended Glycemic Screening and Care.

Oregon expanded Emergency Medicaid coverage to 60 days of postpartum care in 2018, facilitating ongoing care for conditions such as gestational diabetes. We linked Medicaid claims and birth certificates from 2010 to 2019 in Oregon and South Carolina, which did not expand postpartum care. We used a difference-in-difference design to measure the effects of postpartum care coverage among Emergency Medicaid recipients with gestational diabetes.

Immigration Policy and the Health of Latina Mothers and Their Infants.

Restrictive immigration policies may adversely affect the health of Latina mothers and their infants. We hypothesized that undocumented Latina mothers and their US born children would have worse birth outcomes and healthcare utilization following the November 2016 election. We used a controlled interrupted time series to estimate the impact of the 2016 presidential election on low birth weight (LBW), preterm birth, maternal depression, well child visit attendance, cancelled visits, and emergency department (ED) visits among infants born to Latina mothers on emergency Medicaid, a proxy for undocumented immigration status.

Contraceptive Access and Use Among Undergraduate and Graduate Students During COVID-19: Online Survey Study.

Background: The COVID-19 pandemic led to widespread college campus closures in the months of March to June 2020, endangering students' access to on-campus health resources, including reproductive health services.

Objective: To assess contraceptive access and use among undergraduate and graduate students in North Carolina during the COVID-19 pandemic.

Methods: We conducted a cross-sectional web-based survey of undergraduate and graduate students enrolled at degree-granting institutions in North Carolina.

Unfulfilled Requests for Postpartum Tubal Ligation at a Southern Tertiary Care Center.

Nationally, multiple barriers lead only 50% of women who request postpartum tubal ligation to receive it prior to discharge. We aimed to identify characteristics associated with unfulfilled requests for postpartum tubal ligation at a tertiary medical center in the South. We conducted a retrospective chart review of all women delivering a live infant with a documented desire for postpartum sterilization between September 1, 2018, and November 30, 2018.

The Problems with Crisis Pregnancy Centers: Reviewing the Literature and Identifying New Directions for Future Research.

Crisis pregnancy centers (CPCs) are nonprofit organizations that present themselves as healthcare clinics while providing counseling explicitly intended to discourage and limit access to abortion. These facilities engage in purposefully manipulative and deceptive practices that spread misinformation on sexual health and abortion. CPCs have also been shown to delay access to medically legitimate prenatal and abortion care, which negatively impacts maternal health.

Association of Prenatal Care Expansion With Use of Antidiabetic Agents During Pregnancies Among Latina Emergency Medicaid Recipients With Gestational Diabetes.

Importance: Access to necessary prenatal care is not guaranteed through Medicaid for some people with low income based on their immigration status. Although states have the option to extend emergency Medicaid coverage for prenatal care, many states have not expanded coverage.

Objective: To evaluate whether the receipt of prenatal care services through the extension of emergency Medicaid coverage is associated with an increase in antidiabetic medication use among Latina patients with gestational diabetes.

Comparing Website Identification for Crisis Pregnancy Centers and Abortion Clinics.

Background: Crisis pregnancy centers (CPCs) seeking to dissuade women from abortion often appear in Internet searches for abortion clinics. We aimed to assess whether women can use screenshots from real websites to differentiate between CPCs and abortion clinics.

Methods: We conducted a cross-sectional, nationally representative online study of English- and Spanish-speaking women aged 18-49 years in the United States.

Telemedicine access and higher educational attainment.

What role should telemedicine services play in a higher education landscape that increasingly embraces online education? How prominently should telemedicine feature in the suite of wraparound services that schools prioritize for vulnerable students? While many studies interrogate single-factor health issues and college success, this essay argues that significant research is needed to close knowledge gaps in understanding the relationship between telemedicine access and higher educational attainment.

Pregnancy Medicaid Improvements in a Nonexpansion State After the Affordable Care Act.

One-half of women in the United States use Medicaid during pregnancy. Women living in states that did not expand Medicaid under the Patient Protection and Affordable Care Act (ACA) are at risk of losing coverage post partum. We analyzed Medicaid claims and vital statistics for the state of North Carolina for the period 2011 to 2017.

Women's knowledge of their state's abortion regulations. A national survey.

Objectives: States vary significantly in their regulation of abortion. Misinformation about abortion is pervasive and propagated by state-mandated scripts that contain abortion myths. We sought to investigate women's knowledge of abortion laws in their state.