Kate Huntress - Women’s Health (Senior Editor)
Date Published: 21 February, 2023
Accessibility to pregnancy testing is not often thought of as an obstacle for young women to tackle when it comes to women’s health in America, however a unique study indicates that this may be an underlying issue when it comes to effective early detection of pregnancy. The article “Feasibility and Acceptability of At-Home Routine Pregnancy Testing in the United States: A Pilot Study,” written by Natalie Morris, Katherine Ehrenreich, Tanvi Gurazada, and Daniel Grossman illustrates a recent study that was designed to determine the effect of providing free at-home pregnancy tests in conjunction with monthly text reminders to participants on the prevalence of earlier pregnancy detection. The study targeted individuals who were most likely to experience an unplanned pregnancy by posting flyers online, in the community, and in abortion clinics. Once the participants were established, they were mailed at-home pregnancy tests and received text reminders to test monthly over three months and text back their results. After the study, a portion of the participants participated in qualitative interviews. The study concluded that free testing at home and sending text-results is a simple and effective way to increase the prevalence of earlier pregnancy detection. An overwhelming percentage of the participants stated that both the availability of the pregnancy test as well as the text reminders provided welcome benefits when it came to being reassured of their pregnancy status.
Early pregnancy detection in the population that was sampled (women 18-24 years old) has a considerable impact on the likelihood that they will receive earlier prenatal care, or have access to abortion at an earlier and safer stage in their pregnancy. Implementing opportunities such as this one in populations that have a high prevalence of unwanted or unsafe pregnancies could be monumental in terms of receiving care earlier in pregnancies so as to avoid complications. The article mentions that, “Most study participants expressed interest in continuing to test if given free pregnancy tests and some reported continuing to test regularly after the study had ended.” The results of this study portrayed the potential that a system such as this one could prevent a multitude of issues because of increased availability to test early and often. Women who are at risk of unplanned or unwanted pregnancies often do not have easy access to at-home pregnancy tests for a multitude of reasons, including expenses, inability to access due to transportation issues or inconvenience, or decreased availability due to privacy issues. Further, many of these women simply won’t test every month. If you think about it, going to the store to buy a pregnancy test every month is tedious, costly, and easy to forget or to simply dismiss. A system that holds you accountable via text message while providing the resources you need to test at home every single month is an almost foolproof way to ensure that women are catching pregnancies absolutely as soon as possible so that they can begin prenatal care much earlier, figure out what their next steps are, or receive a much safer abortion. The value of this study is truly remarkable because of what it could mean for the mental, physical, and financial health of thousands of women.
References
Morris, N., Ehrenreich, K., Gurazada, T., & Grossman, D. (2023). Feasibility and
Acceptability of At-Home Routine Pregnancy Testing in the United States: A
Pilot Study. Women’s Health Issues, 0(0).
https://doi.org/10.1016/j.whi.2023.01.002
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