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Avoiding pregnancy is especially important for those who have recently given birth, given the health risks of rapid repeats of pregnancy. However, not all healthcare providers offer contraception to their patients.
In the last 20 years U.S. Catholic hospitals have risen dramatically.. However, it may be surprising to many to find out that Catholic hospitals are not allowed to provide health care that is considered “essentially immoral” by their religious leaders. Hmm.
Catholic religion believes that life begins with conception and that sex should be done only for reproductive purposes.For this reason, the American Catholic Bishops’ Council Ethical and religious directives, Last updated in 2018, bans Catholic hospitals from providing contraception, abortion and fertility treatments. There are no exceptions when you need to be careful to protect a person’s life and health.
As a result, many people who wish to have contraception before discharge after childbirth may not be able to receive contraception.
One The most effective way to prevent pregnancy It ’s a female sterilization operation. Used by 18% of U.S. women.. This permanent method of contraception usually consists of tubal ligation, a surgical procedure that cuts or seals the fallopian tubes. Catholic hospitals are not allowed Perform this procedure.
However, many people are not even aware that they are choosing a Catholic hospital when deciding where to deliver. Others may not be aware that there are no options or that the place of birth may affect the reproductive treatment options available to them.
As a sexual and reproductive health epidemiologistI ran Studies on contraception and abortion In countries around the world, including the United States, for the past 20 years. Much of my research involves studying disparities in people’s use of contraception.
Avoiding Catholic hospitals can be difficult
As a result of hospital mergers and acquisitions, the number of Catholic acute care hospitals increased by 22% between 2001 and 2016. Overall, about 17% of beds in acute care hospitals in the United States Belonging to Catholic Hospital..
Some people go to Catholic hospitals because of their limited options. There are 46 Catholic hospitals in the United States. The only provider of short-term acute hospital care Geographical area including Santa Fe, New Mexico. Grand Junction, Colorado; Bellingham, Washington. Others may be limited to where their health insurance covers their care.
Some people are unaware that they are attending a Catholic hospital. A 2018 national survey asked adult women of reproductive age where to go for reproductive care. 16% named the Catholic hospital.But more than one-third of the women who named Catholic hospitals Did not know that their hospital was Catholic.. In addition, those who were wrong about the Catholic status of their hospital stated themselves as “confident” or “very confident” about their false reaction.
In some cases, the hospital’s name is not religious and you may not be aware of the hospital’s status.Also, people may not know that the Catholic network has purchased their secular hospitals, and that their hospitals now need to follow it. Ethical and religious directives.. In the 2017-2018 review of the hospital website, 21% of Catholic hospitals do not explicitly disclose Their Catholic status on their website.
Even if you know that your hospital is Catholic, you may not know that attending a Catholic hospital may limit the range of care you can receive. In a large survey of women, Most people did not expect limits on care In Catholic hospitals, especially for services that are considered less taboo than abortion. Respondents were unaware that Catholic hospitals have limitations in providing contraception, including female sterilization, such as tubal ligation.
Need for contraception after childbirth
It is important to use contraception after childbirth, as people’s fertility returns quickly. A minimum of 18 months between childbirth and a new pregnancy is Pregnant person And that Infant health..
Short birth intervals increase the risk of adverse consequences such as pre-eclampsia, preterm birth, and neonatal health problems. Due to health risks, the US Department of Health and Human Services has recognized birth intervals as a top priority. Goals for healthy people in 2030..
For those who do not want to get pregnant anymore, immediately after giving birth is the most convenient time to perform a tubal ligation.For this reason, about half of all tubal ligations Will be executed after delivery.. About 6.2% of delivery Tubal ligation follows in the United States. I can’t receive what I want Postpartum fallopian tube ligation increases the risk of rapid repetition of pregnancy.
Use of postnatal contraception in Catholic hospitals
Our team decided to investigate whether women who recently gave birth to a Catholic hospital were less likely to use contraception during the postpartum period than women who gave birth to a non-Catholic hospital.
If still Ethical and religious directives Catholic hospitals state that they are not allowed to provide contraception, some hospitals may not be able to enforce the rules, and providers may find ways to avoid them. For example, a healthcare provider in a Catholic hospital may place an intrauterine device (IUD) in the desired patient by justifying its use for non-contraceptive purposes. Alternatively, the provider may perform a selective caesarean delivery to covertly perform tubal ligation.
My colleague and I Pregnancy risk assessment monitoring system From 2015 to 2018, from five states: Alaska, Illinois, Maine, Oregon, and Wisconsin. The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention and the State Health Department conduct this survey annually on women who gave birth in the last two to six months. We linked this survey data to a birth certificate to see if a woman gave birth in a catholic or non-catholic hospital.
According to our study, women who gave birth to a Catholic hospital 2 to 6 months after giving birth Half chance of having a woman undergoing sterilization As a woman who gave birth in another type of hospital. This difference remained statistically significant after adjusting for women’s age, race or ethnicity, education, insurance status, and evenness.
Pregnancy carries health risks
Legal abortion Much safer than giving birth in the United States..Because people 14 times more likely to die from pregnancy It is important that they can avoid unintended pregnancy, not from legal abortion.
These studies show that people need access to the contraceptive method of their choice. This is an even more important choice now that people have lost their constitutional right to abortion.
This article will be republished from conversation, A non-profit news site aimed at sharing ideas from academic experts. It was written by: Maria Garo, Ohio State University..
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Maria Gallo is funded by Relias Media for consultancy and is funded by the National Institutes of Health and the Nonprofit Foundation for Research.
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