Recent scientific findings about long-acting and permanent methods of contraception underscore their safety, effectiveness, and wide eligibility for individuals who desire them. This has led to new guidance from the World Health Organization to inform national policies, guidelines, and standards for service delivery. Although developing countries have made much progress in expanding the availab...

CONTEXT Sub-Saharan Africa is burdened by high rates of unintended pregnancy and HIV. Yet little is known about the relationship between these two health risks in the region. Understanding the associations between HIV status and pregnancy decision making may benefit strategies to reduce unintended pregnancy. METHODS In 2009-2010, household-based surveys of 1,256 women in Nigeria and 1,280 wom...

This article promotes a more complete understanding of social change by analyzing spatial patterns of contraceptive use in Bangladesh and the contiguous state of West Bengal in India. Multilevel analyses that control for variations in individual- and household-level correlates show an important role for cross-border influences only in those districts that share a common language across the bord...

There has been a significant increase in the number of twins and higher multiples so that one child in 33 is now a multiple. It is therefore not unusual for schools to have several sets of twins, as well as triplets and even higher multiples. By being the same age and in the same school year if not class, twins and higher multiples are not like brothers and sisters born closely together. Teache...

CONTEXT Few nationally representative studies have examined the prevalence and predictors of emergency contraception use or of receipt of counseling about the method. The impact of the U.S. Food and Drug Administration's 2006 approval of behind-the-counter sales of the method to women aged 18 and older remains to be seen; therefore, understanding patterns of use and counseling before the 2006 p...