美国国家公共电台 NPR Long-Term, Reversible Contraception Gains Traction With Young Women

Long-Term, Reversible Contraception Gains Traction¹ With Young Women

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And we're going to spend a few minutes now talking about birth control, specifically LARCs, L-A-R-Cs, which stands for long-acting reversible contraception. That includes intrauterine devices and arm implants⁴. They're safe effective, which is why federal health leaders are encouraging state Medicaid programs to increase access to LARCs in hopes that planned pregnancies⁵ lead to healthier mothers and healthier babies. From member station WFAE in Charlotte, Michael Tomsic reports the Carolinas are ahead of the curve.

(SOUNDBITE OF KNOCKING)

UNIDENTIFIED WOMAN: Come on in.

KIM HAMM: You cool if we come in?

UNIDENTIFIED WOMAN: Yes.

MICHAEL TOMSIC, BYLINE⁶: Nurse Practitioner⁷ Kim Hamm walks into a clinic in Gaston County, N.C. A teenager has talked through her options with a health care provider and chosen a contraceptive arm implant³.

HAMM: This is the numbing⁸ medicine, OK? So you're going to feel me touch you here. Now a little stick - one, two, three, ouch - and then a little bit of burn, OK?

TOMSIC: Next is the actual implant, which works by slowly releasing hormones⁹. It's about the size of a matchstick. Hamm uses a small device to insert it between the girl's biceps and triceps.

HAMM: Feel tons of pressure here. That's it.

TOMSIC: Research shows long-acting reversible contraception, or LARCs, are incredibly effective and safe forms of birth control. But they're not that well-known. They can be expensive, and there were problems with some older versions. So only about 10 percent of American women use them, says Megan Kavanaugh of the Guttmacher Institute.

MEGAN KAVANAUGH: Some of the other developed countries that we look at are in the high teens, maybe low 20s, in terms of percentage of use.

TOMSIC: Kavanaugh says better provider training and patient education should lead to higher usage in the United States. That's exactly what happened in Gaston County, N.C., where clinics have seen usage rates soar to nearly 30 percent among teens. It's also played out in Colorado, with higher usage and subsequent drops in teen pregnancy¹⁰ and abortion¹¹, says Jody Camp of Colorado's public health department.

JODY CAMP: While we are not claiming full responsibility for all the decreases in these public health indicators¹², we do believe that our LARC investment made a huge impact on those.

TOMSIC: Now federal health leaders are encouraging all states to make it more accessible through Medicaid, government insurance that covers many low-income women. And they highlighted the way South Carolina has been doing that. Women have the choice to get it right after they give birth. The state uses simulations to teach hospital staff.

UNIDENTIFIED MAN: The head is delivering.

RECORDED VOICE: (Screaming).

TOMSIC: The Palmetto Health-USC School of Medicine in Columbia uses a high-tech¹³ mannequin in what's basically an RV. They drive it around the state, and part of their training is about contraception, says Dr. Judy Burgis.

JUDY BURGIS: The IUD is inserted 10 minutes after delivery of the placenta - like the patient you just saw.

TOMSIC: The director of the South Carolina Birth Outcomes Initiative, BZ Giese, says about half of women on Medicaid weren't showing up to their postpartum visit, when a doctor would discuss contraception options.

B Z GIESE: And that's normally when contraception would be initiated¹⁴. So we were missing a lot of moms that did not come back. And actually, the next time the doctor saw them, they came back pregnant with another child.

TOMSIC: In 2012, South Carolina Medicaid implemented¹⁵ a new way of paying hospitals so they'd take care of contraception before the mom left the first time. It's still completely up to her, and they talk through it in advance. Ana Walker chose an arm implant that'll last three years.

ANA WALKER: I mean, right when I heard about it, I went for it 'cause I was just like, that's probably going to work best for me.

TOMSIC: That's her daughter Bella in the background. Walker, who's 18, got the implant after giving birth to her. She likes that she won't have to remember to take a pill every day. Twenty-year-old Breanna Martin chose a five-year IUD after she had a baby recently. She says it puts her in control.

BREANNA MARTIN: That's the wonderful thing about it is if I want to wait five years, I'm protected for five years. And then if I want to have kids sooner, then I can get it taken out.

TOMSIC: And, South Carolina Researchers say, this initiative is saving the state money. The devices cost roughly a thousand dollars. That's a fraction of what childbirth costs.

For NPR News, I'm Michael Tomsic.

MARTIN: That story is part of a reporting partnership¹⁶ with NPR, WFAE and Kaiser Health News.

1 traction   

n.牵引；附着摩擦力

参考例句：

• I'll show you how the traction is applied.我会让你看如何做这种牵引。
• She's injured her back and is in traction for a month.她背部受伤，正在作一个月的牵引治疗。

2 browser   

n.浏览者

参考例句：

• View edits in a web browser.在浏览器中看编辑的效果。
• I think my browser has a list of shareware links.我想在浏览器中会有一系列的共享软件链接。

3 implant   

vt.注入，植入，灌输

参考例句：

• A good teacher should implant high ideals in children.好教师应该把高尚理想灌输给孩子们。
• The operation to implant the artificial heart took two hours.人工心脏植入手术花费了两小时。

4 implants   

n.（植入身体中的）移植物( implant的名词复数 )

参考例句：

• Hormone implants are used as growth boosters. 激素植入物被用作生长辅助剂。 来自《简明英汉词典》
• Perhaps the most far-reaching project is an initiative called Living Implants From Engineering (LIFE). 也许最具深远意义的项目，是刚刚启动的建造活体移植工程 (LIFE)。 来自英汉非文学 - 生命科学 - 医学的第四次革命

5 pregnancies   

怀孕，妊娠( pregnancy的名词复数 )

参考例句：

• Since the wartime population needed replenishment, pregnancies were a good sign. 最后一桩倒不失为好现象，战时人口正该补充。
• She's had three pregnancies in four years. 她在四年中怀孕叁次。

6 byline   

n.署名；v.署名

参考例句：

• His byline was absent as well.他的署名也不见了。
• We wish to thank the author of this article which carries no byline.我们要感谢这篇文章的那位没有署名的作者。

7 practitioner   

n.实践者，从事者；(医生或律师等)开业者

参考例句：

• He is an unqualified practitioner of law.他是个无资格的律师。
• She was a medical practitioner before she entered politics.从政前她是个开业医生。

8 numbing   

adj.使麻木的，使失去感觉的v.使麻木，使麻痹( numb的现在分词 )

参考例句：

• Watching television had a numbing effect on his mind. 看电视使他头脑麻木。
• It was numbing work, requiring patience and dedication. 这是一种令人麻木的工作，需要有耐心和忘我精神。 来自辞典例句

9 hormones   

n. 荷尔蒙，激素 名词hormone的复数形式

参考例句：

• This hormone interacts closely with other hormones in the body. 这种荷尔蒙与体內其他荷尔蒙紧密地相互作用。
• The adrenals produce a large per cent of a man's sex hormones. 肾上腺分泌人体的大部分性激素。

10 pregnancy   

n.怀孕，怀孕期

参考例句：

• Early pregnancy is often accompanied by nausea.怀孕早期常有恶心的现象。
• Smoking during pregnancy increases the risk of miscarriage.怀孕期吸烟会增加流产的危险。

11 abortion   

n.流产，堕胎

参考例句：

• She had an abortion at the women's health clinic.她在妇女保健医院做了流产手术。
• A number of considerations have led her to have a wilful abortion.多种考虑使她执意堕胎。

12 indicators   

（仪器上显示温度、压力、耗油量等的）指针( indicator的名词复数 )； 指示物； （车辆上的）转弯指示灯； 指示信号

参考例句：

• The economic indicators are better than expected. 经济指标比预期的好。
• It is still difficult to develop indicators for many concepts used in social science. 为社会科学领域的许多概念确立一个指标仍然很难。

13 high-tech   

adj.高科技的

参考例句：

• The economy is in the upswing which makes high-tech services in more demand too.经济在蓬勃发展，这就使对高科技服务的需求量也在加大。
• The quest of a cure for disease with high-tech has never ceased. 人们希望运用高科技治疗疾病的追求从未停止过。

14 initiated   

n. 创始人 adj. 新加入的 vt. 开始，创始，启蒙，介绍加入

参考例句：

• He has not yet been thoroughly initiated into the mysteries of computers. 他对计算机的奥秘尚未入门。
• The artist initiated the girl into the art world in France. 这个艺术家介绍这个女孩加入巴黎艺术界。

15 implemented   

v.实现( implement的过去式和过去分词 )；执行；贯彻；使生效

参考例句：

• This agreement, if not implemented, is a mere scrap of paper. 这个协定如不执行只不过是一纸空文。 来自《现代汉英综合大词典》
• The economy is in danger of collapse unless far-reaching reforms are implemented. 如果不实施影响深远的改革，经济就面临崩溃的危险。 来自辞典例句

16 partnership   

n.合作关系，伙伴关系

参考例句：

• The company has gone into partnership with Swiss Bank Corporation.这家公司已经和瑞士银行公司建立合作关系。
• Martin has taken him into general partnership in his company.马丁已让他成为公司的普通合伙人。