postpartum

Drs. Chang, Krans, and Miller conducted 15 semistructured interviews with pregnant and postpartum women who have experienced opioid use disorder (OUD) and intimate partner violence (IPV). Their team found that
➡️ Partners impacted their ability to seek OUD care
➡️ Seeking help for OUD and IPV was siloed and they wished for integrated services
➡️ They were more comfortable disclosing OUD than IPV
➡️ They perceived pregnancy as a barrier and facilitator to OUD care

Through interviews with postpartum people and health care providers (HCP), Drs. Chang, Miller, and Ragavan explored:

1) How IPV is currently discussed

2) What should be included in IPV interventions

3) How to support those who disclose IPV

4) Implementation barriers and facilitators

This resulted in:

➡️HCPs reported a variety of practices to support survivors

➡️Postpartum people reported not receiving resources or education related to IPV

➡️HCPs identified a need for screening and resource provision

Dr. Janey Catov and her team compared pregnancy and postpartum blood pressure (BP) trajectories among individuals with hypertensive disorders of pregnancy who developed persistent hypertension at 1-year postpartum compared with individuals with normalization of BP.

Read the rest of their paper here: https://pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/38073563/

Drs. Chang, Miller, and Ragavan explored how intimate partner violence (IPV) is currently discussed with postpartum people in the postpartum unit as well as future methods and strategies for intervention and support.

Read more about their findings here: https://pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/37971822/

Drs. Jarlenski and Krans conducted a scoping review including seven studies that highlight the literature's limited understanding of why women in the first year postpartum are particularly vulnerable to opioid overdose. Recomendations within the literature include:

Dr. Marian Jarlenski's study looked at the duration of medication for opioid use disorder during pregnancy and postpartum by race and ethnicity in Medicaid and found that: 

- There are racial/ethnic inequities in MOUD use during pregnancy.
- Less is known about racial/ethnic inequities in MOUD use postpartum.
- White women had longer duration of MOUD postpartum than Hispanic or Black women.
- Inequities differed by type of MOUD.

Drug overdose is a leading cause of pregnancy-associated mortality in the US. This seminar will address the proximal and systemic contributors to reproductive and pregnancy outcomes, drawing on examples from research using health services research and implementation science methods to study persons who use substances in pregnancy.

Drs. Chang, Krans, and Miller held semistructured interviews with pregnant and postpartum women who have experienced opioid use disorder and intimate partner violence regarding their experiences seeking help with both issues.

Congratulations to Dr. Marian Jarlenski for a successful PCORI grant focused on improving pregnancy-related health outcomes. 

Drs. Elizabeth Krans and Beatrice Chen evaluated the effects of increased access to immediate postpartum contraceptive implants on repeat pregnancy and contraceptive use rates among patients with opioid use disorder.