Family Planning

Stepping Stones is Washington Area Women's Foundation's multi-year initiative focused on increasing economic security and financial independence for low-income, women-headed families in the Washington metropolitan area. The Women's Foundation and the Urban Institute will co-sponsor a Stepping Stones Research Briefing, featuring two panels highlighting strategies for increasing and preserving the income and asset gains of low-income, women-headed families through the current recession.

This comparative case study describes the organization, delivery, and content of care of three maternity care models serving low-income women at risk of poor birth outcomes in Wards 5, 6, and 7 in Washington D.C. The first model, a birth center, provides prenatal care, birth services, postpartum follow-up, and infant and child health care. The second is a safety net clinic, which provides a variety of primary health care services, as well as prenatal care services. A not-for-profit teaching and research hospital represents a third option in which prenatal and postnatal care is provided through an on-site obstetric clinic.

[First Tuesdays Transcript] Family structure changed rapidly in the second half of the 20th century. Two-parent families increasingly replaced by other family forms, divorce became common, births out of wedlock increased, and cohabiting couples became widespread. Marriage declined most in poor communities. Under the 1996 welfare legislation, states were urged to promote marriage, reduce out-of-wedlock childbearing, and support two-parent families. Panelists at this forum explored how states and communities might implement these programs in various settings, how service systems for low-income families can also promote marriage and relationships, and what challenges in responding to the circumstances of low-income people to expect.

A 50-state survey of state policies and programs to discourage teen and nonmarital childbearing conducted by Child Trends in 2001 analyzes changes since the 1999 and 1997 surveys. State efforts to prevent teen pregnancy and early childbearing changed little between 1999 and 2001 with one exception. More states reported school-based abstinence education in 2001 than in 1999. Although states focused less effort on nonmarital pregnancy prevention than on teen pregnancy prevention, states are emphasizing welfare caps, improved access to contraceptive service, programs encouraging unmarried pregnant couples to marry, and youth development or young adult education programs. The online version of the brief includes tables that identify the teen and nonmarital childbearing programs in place in each state.

This report, commissioned by the Office of Population Affairs, U.S. Department of Health and Human Services reviews research conducted about family planning services between 1985 and 2003. Over 240 reports and articles were identified and examined. With input from 30 expert technical advisors, the authors organize the review around the key issues facing the family planning field today: reaching high-priority populations, strengthening family planning practices and improving the organization and administration of services. The report identifies priority directions for future family planning research and suggestions for enhancing the impact of research investments made by the Office of Family Planning.