Addressing Unique Barriers to Contraceptive Access for Postpartum Patients With Early Preterm Infants in the Neonatal Intensive Care Unit [ID 1021]

INTRODUCTION: Patients delivering early preterm infants often require prolonged neonatal intensive care unit (NICU) stays and face unique challenges in accessing postpartum care and contraception. We conducted a pilot study offering postpartum contraception counseling via telehealth with a follow-up survey and compared contraception uptake to a retrospective cohort without this intervention. METHODS: Between September 2023 and May 2024, we recruited 21 patients who delivered an infant under 34 weeks admitted to the NICU. Eighteen patients participated in a telehealth visit between 2 and 6 weeks postpartum and 17 completed the post-visit survey. These results were compared to a historical cohort of patients (n=87) from 2022. The primary outcome was contraception uptake by 8 weeks postpartum. Secondary outcomes included attendance rates for the telehealth visit, postpartum visit, and choice of contraception. RESULTS: Contraception uptake by 8 weeks postpartum in our pilot cohort was 47%, versus 25% historically ( P =.045). The attendance rate for the contraception counseling telehealth visit was 86%. Postpartum visit attendance in our pilot cohort was 81% compared with 57% historically ( P =.047). The most common contraceptive chosen was contraceptive implant at 38%. CONCLUSIONS/IMPLICATIONS: Offering a telehealth contraception counseling visit between 2 and 6 weeks postpartum increased contraception uptake and postpartum visit attendance for patients with early preterm infants. Although this study was not powered for statistical significance, our results propose telehealth as a viable option to make contraception more accessible to this high-risk population. More research is needed to evaluate the benefits of telehealth in this setting.