The research laboratory of Danielle Roncari, MD, Director of Family Planning at Tufts Medical Center in downtown Boston, MA is currently investigating how male partners of women seeking abortions make decisions about contraceptives.
Contraceptive decision-making among male partners of women seeking abortion in inner city Boston
Dr. Roncari performed a mixed-methods analysis examining male partner participation in contraceptive decision-making at the time of abortion.
The research team questioned 100 couples awaiting pregnancy termination at Boston Medical Center on their planned means of future birth control and where they had previously accessed contraception information. The researchers looked at agreement between men and women on their selected method as well as preference for male involvement in contraceptive decision making. The researchers also did focused interviews on a subset of 21 male partners on their knowledge, prior education, and desire for more knowledge about and participation in contraceptive choice.
Dr. Roncari expects that the results from this study will lead to the development of more effective contraceptive counseling for both men and women. This study was presented as a poster at ACOG’s Annual Meeting 2013.
In addition to this project, Dr. Roncari has recently begun investigating the effect of a paracervical block on pain control during cervical dilator placement.