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PROVIDENCE, R.I., May 2, 2006 (UPI via COMTEX) -- A Rhode Island study says women inmates are more likely to start using birth control when it's offered in prison than after their release.
Researchers at Rhode Island Hospital and the Brown Medical School say the study is significant because when such women are released into the community they are at high risk for unplanned pregnancies.
"Women are accessing birth control services when they're made available in correctional institutions, and we should be making those services available throughout the country," said the study's lead author, Dr. Jennifer Clarke, an internist at Rhode Island Hospital and the Rhode Island Department of Corrections, as well as an assistant professor of medicine at Brown Medical School.
"If we want to help empower women in their recovery from drugs and alcohol, for example, we need to give them the tools so they can plan their pregnancy during a time when they're more stable," she said.
The study, which found women overall were 14 times more likely to start using birth control when it was offered in prison, is reported in the American Journal of Public Health.
URL: www.upi.com Copyright 2006 by United Press International
