Open research questions in Reproductive Health and Contraception

What the literature leaves open

• There is a lack of understanding of the views of healthcare practitioners in Britain regarding the role of midwives and nurses in abortion care. There is a need to explore the relationships between healthcare practitioner type and views on nurses' and midwives' role in abortion care.

  Which Aspects of Abortion Care Do Healthcare Practitioners in Britain Think Nurses/Midwives Should Provide? Findings From the SACHA Study · 2026 · DOI

• the analysis was limited to the construction subsample - the validation subsample will be used in a forthcoming confirmatory analysis - no single indicator exists for assessing latent class model fit

  Developing Contraceptive Decision-Making Profiles via Latent Class Analysis: Understanding User Priorities Across Contraceptive Attributes · 2026 · DOI

• a forthcoming confirmatory analysis will use the validation subsample to corroborate the latent class structure - future research could investigate the relationship between contraceptive method characteristic preferences and actual use patterns

  Developing Contraceptive Decision-Making Profiles via Latent Class Analysis: Understanding User Priorities Across Contraceptive Attributes · 2026 · DOI

• Migrant and refugee youth face significant barriers in accessing contraceptive services. Limited understanding of migrant and refugee youth's knowledge, beliefs, and experiences regarding contraception access and utilization. Need for culturally competent and youth-friendly services.

  Western Sydney Migrant and Refugee Youths’ Perspectives about Access and Use of Contraception in Australia: A Qualitative Study · 2026 · DOI

• The study identifies the challenge of restricted abortion access and its impact on individuals' right to bodily autonomy. The research highlights the intersection of individual, interpersonal, and structural factors in reproductive decision-making, which can create challenges for abortion fund applicants. The study notes the lack of resources, including insufficient finances, unemployment, and lack of housing, as a challenge faced by abortion fund applicants.

  “I’m Not Able to Give a Child a Good Life”: Reasons for Wanting an Abortion Among Abortion Fund Applicants in the Rocky Mountain West · 2026 · DOI

• There is a lack of research on abortion funds in the Rocky Mountain West. Few studies have explored the reasons for wanting an abortion among abortion fund applicants in this region. The study fills a gap in scholarship by investigating the intersection of individual, interpersonal, and structural factors in reproductive decision-making.

  “I’m Not Able to Give a Child a Good Life”: Reasons for Wanting an Abortion Among Abortion Fund Applicants in the Rocky Mountain West · 2026 · DOI

• One challenge is the discordance between participant ratings and state classifications, indicating a lack of awareness or misunderstanding. Another challenge is the systematic bias in participant ratings, which could indicate restrictive or protective biases. The study also faced the challenge of excluding participants who did not want to answer questions about their state's abortion policy climate.

  Awareness of State-Level Abortion Policy Climates among Young Adult Black Women: Examining Agreement between State Classifications and Participant Perceptions · 2026 · DOI

• Further study on the impact of state-level abortion policies on access to reproductive health care, - Examination of the relationship between participant awareness and perceived impact of Dobbs

  Awareness of State-Level Abortion Policy Climates among Young Adult Black Women: Examining Agreement between State Classifications and Participant Perceptions · 2026 · DOI

• The paper identifies challenges in collecting data on queer people's experiences seeking abortion care, including the need for self-administered surveys and electronic consent forms. The study also notes challenges in measuring gestational age, including the use of self-reported last known period for participants who completed the survey before receiving an ultrasound.

  Starting Early but not Getting Ahead: Clinic Choice, Time to Care, and Potential Hurdles for Queer Patients Seeking Abortion Care · 2026 · DOI

• The paper identifies a gap in understanding the paths to abortion care for queer people, particularly in terms of time to care and factors influencing clinic choice. There is a lack of research on the experiences of queer people seeking abortion care, including the impact of discrimination on their care-seeking behaviors.

  Starting Early but not Getting Ahead: Clinic Choice, Time to Care, and Potential Hurdles for Queer Patients Seeking Abortion Care · 2026 · DOI

• Ensuring the discretion and privacy of women's pregnancy plans. Providing trustworthy and reputable sources of information. Balancing the need for personalization with the potential for stigma and judgment.

  Women’s views on content and delivery methods for interventions to improve preconception health: a qualitative exploration · 2024 · DOI

• small sample, - qualitative study, - limited to women aged 18-48 years, - limited to women registered with seven general practices in the West of England

  Women’s views on content and delivery methods for interventions to improve preconception health: a qualitative exploration · 2024 · DOI

• Importantly, structural change alone is insufficient; attention to the ongoing experience of stigma remains essential to delivering high-quality, person-centered abortion care.

  “It's Not a One Size Fits All”: Service Users’ Views on How Service Structure Shapes Quality of Abortion Care in Britain. Findings from the SACHA Study. · 2026 · DOI

• People often engage social networks when navigating abortion access constraints, but limited research links this involvement to abortion outcomes.

  Social Network Involvement in Abortion Care‐Seeking and Abortion Outcomes among a Population‐Based Sample of Nigerian Women Who Had Abortions · 2026 · DOI

• Little is known about long-term outcomes of women choosing an IUD after second-trimester medical abortion.

  Immediate placement of intrauterine device after second‐trimester medical abortion—Secondary outcomes with one‐year follow‐up · 2026 · DOI

• Whether a similar increase occurred in South Carolina, one of the most restrictive states with regards to access to abortion care, has not yet been described and is the focus of this study.

  Changes in tubal permanent contraception rates in South Carolina following the Dobbs decision: a retrospective cohort study · 2026 · DOI

• Introduction Preconception care (PCC) is an important preventive strategy for improving maternal and fetal outcomes by addressing modifiable health risks before conception, yet its uptake remains limited in Saudi Arabia and evidence from private healthcare settings is scarce.

  Preconception care knowledge, attitudes, and practices among women attending a private women's hospital in Riyadh, Saudi Arabia: a cross-sectional study · 2026 · DOI

• Despite the growing interest in person-centered measures for family planning and the importance of reproductive preferences, little is known about the measurement of contraceptive preferences.

  How Do We Measure Contraceptive Method Preferences? Evidence From a Scoping Review · 2025 · DOI

• INTRODUCTION: Little is known regarding the impact of gestation on pain, bleeding duration, and satisfaction in early medical abortion (termination of pregnancy).

  Differences in pain, bleeding, and satisfaction during medical abortion at very early gestations · 2025 · DOI

• INTRODUCTION: Knowledge on women's pain and stress experiences during medical abortion is scarce and evidence mainly relies on retrospective reports, which are prone to recall bias.

  Women's real‐time pain and stress during medical abortion: An ecological momentary assessment study · 2025 · DOI

• Policy improvements and further research on achieving universal high-quality counselling are important to ensure equitable access to contraception.

  Factors Associated With Contraceptive Initiation and Use Among Women Who Have Given Birth in the Last Year: Findings From the 2023 Women's Reproductive Health Survey · 2025 · DOI

• Although a direct evidence of abortion bans increasing adverse birth outcomes was not found, the difference in the changes in congenital anomalies across abortion policies suggests that there is a potential for the exacerbation of inequities and further investigation is warranted.

  Changes in maternal morbidity and infant outcomes following state-level abortion bans post-Dobbs: a comparative interrupted time series study · 2025 · DOI

• Spontaneous abortion has been associated with higher risk of type 2 diabetes mellitus (T2DM) and gestational diabetes mellitus (GDM), while the evidence remains equivocal.

  Association of spontaneous abortion and lifestyle with diabetes mellitus in women: a cross-sectional study in UK Biobank · 2025 · DOI

• With China's shift from a "one-child" to a "three-child" policy, future research will focus on analyzing this new fertility pattern to refine IPI recommendations.

  Association between interpregnancy interval and adverse perinatal outcomes according to maternal age in the context of China’s two-child policy · 2025 · DOI

• BACKGROUND: The association between interpregnancy interval (IPI) after vaginal delivery and preterm birth (PTB) in singleton has not been elucidated.

  Non-linear association between interpregnancy interval after vaginal delivery and singleton preterm birth: a retrospective cohort study · 2025 · DOI

Most-cited papers in Reproductive Health and Contraception

• Declines in Unintended Pregnancy in the United States, 2008–2011 · New England Journal of Medicine · 2016 · 1,724 citations
• Disparities in Rates of Unintended Pregnancy In the United States, 1994 and 2001 · Perspectives on Sexual and Reproductive Health · 2006 · 1,347 citations
• Miscarriage matters: the epidemiological, physical, psychological, and economic costs of early pregnancy loss · The Lancet · 2021 · 1,306 citations
• Contraceptive failure in the United States · Contraception · 2011 · 1,156 citations
• Unintended pregnancy in the United States: incidence and disparities, 2006 · Contraception · 2011 · 991 citations
• The Power of the Pill: Oral Contraceptives and Women’s Career and Marriage Decisions · Journal of Political Economy · 2002 · 877 citations
• Unintended Pregnancy in the United States · Family Planning Perspectives · 1998 · 858 citations
• National Use of Postmenopausal Hormone Therapy · JAMA · 2004 · 799 citations
• Intended and Unintended Pregnancies Worldwide in 2012 and Recent Trends · Studies in Family Planning · 2014 · 746 citations
• Vital Signs: Pregnancy-Related Deaths, United States, 2011–2015, and Strategies for Prevention, 13 States, 2013–2017 · MMWR Morbidity and Mortality Weekly Report · 2019 · 690 citations

Most recent work

• More equitable preconception health: paternal life course opportunities for better pregnancy, child, and family outcomes · The Lancet · 2026
• The US Food and Drug Administration’s Regulation of Mifepristone · JAMA · 2026
• Venous thromboembolism with combined oral contraceptives based on estrogen and progestin content: a disproportionality analysis of the United States Food and Drug Administration Adverse Event Reporting System database · American Journal of Obstetrics and Gynecology · 2026
• Contraceptive autonomy of adolescents and young adults in the U.S. South: The influence of healthcare providers, partners, and parents · Social Science & Medicine · 2026
• A double-blind, triple-arm randomized controlled trial of 1% lidocaine paracervical block for intrauterine device (IUD) insertion · Contraception · 2026
• New York state resistance to federal regression of sexual and reproductive rights · BMJ · 2026
• Contraceptive Progestogens and Incident Meningioma · JAMA Network Open · 2026
• Distinguishing Between Enforceable and On-The-Books State-Level Abortion Policies Over Time: Findings From a Policy Surveillance Study · Journal of Public Health Management and Practice · 2026
• Anxiety and pain from office intrauterine device insertion: Relationship to prior social media use · Contraception · 2026
• Awareness of abortion medications by mail options among abortion patients at 6 clinics: Findings from a pilot study · Contraception · 2026

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