For new mothers in the U.S. who receive government-sponsored health insurance, it's becoming easier to get intrauterine devices (IUDs) implanted immediately after giving birth, a study found.
"Immediate insertion is associated with more women who want an IUD implant actually getting it, higher use at three months postpartum, and lower rates of unplanned rapid repeat pregnancies within 12 to 24 months of delivery," said lead study author Dr. Michelle Moniz of the University of Michigan in Ann Arbor, in email to Reuters Health. "Furthermore, multiple analyses suggest that this strategy is cost-effective."
Just three years ago, no state Medicaid programs paid for these contraceptive devices to be implanted right after delivery. But over the past three years, Medicaid has added coverage for IUDs inserted right after birth in at least 19 states, the study found.
The shift reflects mounting evidence that providing IUDs during hospitalizations for delivery is a safe and effective way to increase contraceptive use among new mothers and discourage pregnancies in rapid succession that pose health risks to women and their babies, said Moniz.
Medicaid, the government health insurance program for the poor, pays for roughly half of U.S. births - and an even greater proportion of deliveries at most safety-net hospitals that treat many of the nation's poor and uninsured patients. States jointly finance the program with the federal government and have wide latitude to determine who qualifies for benefits and what services to cover.
For the current study, Moniz and colleagues interviewed Medicaid representatives from 39 states and the District of Columbia in 2014 and 2015. Officials in the remaining eleven states either declined to participate or didn't respond to interview requests.
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