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The intrauterine device and its dynamics.

In the past decade, attention has shifted from family planning (often made available through population programs) to reproductive health--a state of complete physical, mental and social well-being and not merely the absence of disease or infirmity, in all matters related to the reproductive system and its function and processes. Reproductive health has three components: the ability to procreate, regulate fertility and enjoy sex; the successful outcome of pregnancy through infant and child survival and growth; and the safety of the reproductive process. According to Mitchell et al., the following are key elements in a reproductive health program: (a) Family planning services that offer complete and accurate information about all contraceptive methods and that make contraceptive services, supplies and counseling accessible. (b) Antenatal care, which research suggests lowers rates of maternal mortality. (c) Safe delivery services, so that all women deliver under some type of supervised care and so that referral systems are established to provide emergency treatment of life-threatening complications of delivery. (d) Postnatal care that contributes to a woman's ability to have a speedy and complete recovery from the stress of pregnancy and childbirth, to enjoy sexual relations without pain and to have safe pregnancies and deliveries in the future. (e) Management of the complications of abortion where safe abortions are not available. (f) Infertility services that enable women to achieve their reproductive goals; and effective screening for or control of reproductive tract infections (RTIs), because RTIs are the most common preventable cause of involuntary infertility and ectopic pregnancy, as well as of chronic pelvic pain and recurrent infection. (g) Management and treatment of systemic sexually transmitted diseases (STDs), such as HIV and hepatitis B. (h) Symptomatic treatment of urinary tract infections. (i) Detection and treatment of breast and reproductive tract cancers, such as cervical cancer. (j) Attention to and treatment of dysmenorhea, which in some cases is the first sign of other problems, such as pelvic inflammatory disease, endometriosis, fibroids, endometrial cancer and ectopic pregnancy. (k) Nutritional supplementation to meet the special needs of adolescents, pregnant or lactating women, and women older than 50 years. (1) Services for menopause and other health problems that women encounter as they grow older. (m) Services for adolescents, including family planning and STD prevention and treatment. It shall be clear that many institutions delivering reproductive health services operate significantly below their physical capacity to see clients, and that much of the equipment required for expanding reproductive health services may already be available for use in family planning and other health services. In this context, we would therefore like to discuss the dynamics of IUDs.

Contraindications↗

[Community health services for adolescents in Israel--challenges for the next decade].

Adolescent health issues have become an increasingly important challenge for public health in Israel. Meeting this challenge is difficult because of the special needs of this age group, inadequate training of health professionals, reimbursement policies, and the need for multisectorial cooperation. The past decade has seen a proliferation of community-based health services designed to meet the needs of adolescents. These services are of four basic types: 1) primary care clinics; 2) school health services; 3) multi-disciplinary adolescent health centers; and 4) other services, including reproductive health clinics, mental health and eating disorder units, and informal youth counseling centers. This development has taken place without systematic public health planning, including prioritization and the design of an orderly, integrative network of primary and referral services. We present national health planning goals to meet these challenges. These goals include: 1) defining the roles of each health care sector; 2) providing professional training to meet these roles; 3) facilitating the development of a rational system of community-based health services; and 4) offering a more equitable distribution of services. Implementing these goals should aid in better meeting the unique health needs Israel's adolescent population.

Adolescent↗

Reproductive health knowledge and use of services among young adults in Dakar, Senegal.

A study was conducted in Dakar, Senegal, to measure reproductive health knowledge and contraceptive use among young adults, and access to family planning services. A household survey was conducted with 1973 single and married women aged 15-24 and 936 single men aged 15-19. Two focus groups and a simulated client study were also conducted. The survey and focus groups noted gaps in knowledge of family planning methods and reproductive health. There were misconceptions about methods and only one-third of men and women aged 15-19 correctly identified the time of the menstrual cycle when a women is most likely to get pregnant. Contraceptive use at time of first premarital sexual experience was less than 30%. The simulated client study noted many barriers to services. 'Clients' felt uncomfortable in the clinics and felt that providers were reluctant to take care of them. None of the 'clients' who requested contraception received it.

Adolescent↗

Models for future delivery of care in infertility: the role of the private sector.

An estimated 85% of infertility treatment at the tertiary level in the UK currently is funded by the infertile couples themselves. Of the 15% of couples who receive NHS funding for assisted reproductive technology (ART), a sizeable proportion is provided by private clinics. If the National Institute of Clinical Excellence (NICE) decides that the National Health Service (NHS) should provide funding for an increased number of treatments, then it is unlikely that wholly NHS ART clinics will be able to provide the extra number of cycles required. Those private clinics in the UK that bid to provide treatment funded by the NHS through primary care trusts (PCT) generally provide a cost-effective service in a 'patient friendly' environment. The case is made in this article that ART clinics in the private sector that wish to bid for PCT contracts, should be allowed to compete on an equal basis with NHS or NHS-private combined clinics. PCTs awarding contracts should be wholly driven by good evidence of clinical effectiveness, cost effectiveness and the provision of a quality service to patients.

Adult↗

Wisdom, casuistry, and the goal of reproductive counseling.

Reproductive counseling includes counseling of prospective parents by obstetricians, clinical geneticists, and genetic counselors regarding, for example, the use of assisted reproductive technologies, prenatal testing, and preimplantation genetic diagnosis. Two different views on wisdom and the goal of reproductive counseling are analyzed. According to the first view, the goal of reproductive counseling is to help prospective parents reach a wise decision. A specific course of action is recommended by the counselor in contrast to other possible alternatives. According to the second view, the goal of reproductive counseling is not to help prospective parents reach a wise decision but to help them reach their own decision wisely. It is the prospective parents who should make the decision, and it is their value commitments that should be decisive. It is argued that the second approach is to be preferred to the first. It combines respect for autonomy with a recognition of the need for assistance in decision-making. Both the first and second views relate the goal of reproductive counseling to wisdom. A problem is, however, what wisdom more precisely means - there are many different views. A casuistic view of wisdom is investigated. This view roughly defines wisdom as practical prudence in dealing with particular cases. What characterizes a casuistic decision-making method is elaborated in more detail. Applied to the second view, a casuistic view of wisdom implies that the counselor should encourage prospective parents to take into consideration the nature of the particular problem at hand, the context of the problem, their own individual identities, their personal value commitments, and various alternative perspectives, values and arguments.

Counseling↗

Reproductive health, criminal activity, and abuse among 10- to 15-year-old females enrolled in medicaid.

OBJECTIVE: To quantify the degree of abuse or criminal behavior among young females presenting for reproductive health care services. METHODS: An evaluation was conducted among Alaskan females age 10 through 15 years enrolled in Medicaid. Subjects were identified who had experienced reproductive health outcomes. The Medicaid file was linked to a Child Protective Services database and a Juvenile Justice database to identify episodes of abuse by a caretaker and criminal behavior. RESULTS: Of 21,350 Alaskan females aged 10-15 years enrolled in Medicaid during 1999-2003, 841 (3.9%) presented for reproductive health care, 2,930 (14%) were referred to Child Protective Services and 1,858 (8.7%) were referred to Juvenile Justice for criminal activity. Among the subjects with a reproductive health-related claim, 39% were referred to Child Protective Services while 31% were referred to Juvenile Justice at some point during the study period. Reproductive health care was strongly associated with referral to Child Protective Services (adjusted odds ratio [aOR] 2.9, 95% confidence interval [CI] 2.5-3.4), substantiated sexual abuse (aOR 2.3, 95% CI 1.7-3.2), and referral to Juvenile Justice (aOR 2.9, 95% CI 2.5-3.4). These associations remained regardless of the type of reproductive health care, including contraceptive management. CONCLUSION: Females aged 10-15 years enrolled in Medicaid who present for any type of reproductive health care are at increased risk of abuse by a caretaker and criminal behavior. Clinicians caring for low-income females should consider routine screening for sexual activity and the experience of violence. LEVEL OF EVIDENCE: II-2.

Adolescent↗

Sexual and reproductive health for all: a call for action.

At the United Nations International Conference on Population and Development in Cairo in 1994, the international community agreed to make reproductive health care universally available no later than 2015. After a 5-year review of progress towards implementation of the Cairo programme of action, that commitment was extended to include sexual, as well as reproductive, health and rights. Although progress has been made towards this commitment, it has fallen a long way short of the original goal. We argue that sexual and reproductive health for all is an achievable goal--if cost-effective interventions are properly scaled up; political commitment is revitalised; and financial resources are mobilised, rationally allocated, and more effectively used. National action will need to be backed up by international action. Sustained effort is needed by governments in developing countries and in the donor community, by inter-governmental organisations, non-governmental organisations, civil society groups, the women's health movement, philanthropic foundations, the private for-profit sector, the health profession, and the research community.

Acquired Immunodeficiency Syndrome↗

ACOG Committee Opinion. Number 335, May 2006: The initial reproductive health visit.

The American College of Obstetrician and Gynecologists (ACOG) recommends the first visit to the obstetrician-gynecologist take place between the ages of 13 and 15 years. This visits will provide health guidance, screening, and preventive health care services and provide an excellent opportunity for the obstetrician-gynecologist to start a physician-patient relationship. This visit generally does not include an internal pelvic examination.

Adolescent↗

Between intent and achievement in sector-wide approaches: staking a claim for reproductive health.

Since 1995, sector-wide approaches (SWAps) to health development have significantly influenced health aid to developing countries. SWAps offer guidelines for new partnerships with international donors led by government, new relationships between donors and shared financing, development and implementation of agreed packages of health sector reforms. These structural and funding changes have significant implications for reproductive health. The early experience of SWAps suggests that the extent of donor commitment is constrained for administrative, philosophical and political reasons, with vertical programmes (including those relevant to reproductive health) protecting their 'core' business, and reproductive health, as an integrative concept, lacking strong advocates. Defining the sector in terms of government health systems focuses resources on building effective district health systems, but with uncertain outcomes for elements of reproductive health that depend on multi-sectoral strategies, e.g. safe motherhood. The context of the reforms remains a determining factor in their success, but despite savings available through increased efficiencies and coordinated services, the total per capita expenditure on health to ensure minimum clinical and public health services often remains beyond the budget available to least developed nations. Despite this, many of the elements of SWAps--government leadership, new donor relationships, better coordination, sectoral reform and service integration--offer the potential for more effective and efficient health services, including those for reproductive health.

Developing Countries↗

Use of postpartum health services in rural Uganda: knowledge, attitudes, and barriers.

The purpose of this study was to explore the knowledge, attitudes and barriers to use of postpartum care service among rural communities in Uganda. Study was a part of a larger reproductive health evaluation project, and was cross-sectional in nature utilizing qualitative research methods using the narrative inquiry. Two matched rural communities were used in this study; Semuto in Luwero district, and Lwamaggwa in Rakai district. Fifty key informants who were purposefully selected from each study site were interviewed. They included community leaders, political leaders, health care providers, women leaders and community members. One-on-one interviews were conducted with key community informants using an interview guide. The purpose of the interview was explained to each participant, and written informed consent was obtained before the start of the interview. Respondents were allowed to express their views, opinions and observations on several health issues including postpartum health care services. There was a low level of knowledge about postpartum care services among the respondents of the two communities. There was lack of awareness about postpartum care and it's benefits. The main barriers to use of services were; misconceptions regarding the importance of postpartum care, distance to health facilities, poverty, and health system factors notably; poor facilities, lack of essential drugs, and poor attitudes of health workers. In the effort to improve reproductive health care services, there is an urgent need to improve postpartum services, and make them more accessible and user friendly. The training of providers at all levels is essential, in addition to educating families on the importance of postpartum care services.

Adolescent↗