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A Select Issue In The Postpartum Period: Contraception, Whitney Cowman, Abbey Hardy-Fairbanks, Jill Endres, Colleen Stockdale

Abbey J Hardy-Fairbanks

One half of pregnancies in the United States are unintended and associated with adverse pregnancy outcomes. The postpartum period is an important, yet underutilized, time to initiate contraception. The U.S. Medical Eligibility Criteria for Contraceptive Use, 2010 provides evidence-based guidelines for choosing a contraceptive method and an update in 2011 specifically addresses contraceptive method use in the puerperium. The variety of contraceptive methods include hormonal contraception, lactational amenorrhea, barrier contraception, natural family planning, and sterilization. Ideally, counseling about contraceptive choice should begin early in pregnancy care and continue postpartum; it should also include a variety of teaching modalities. Specifically we …