Family Planning Council of Iowa

Contraception should NOT be controversial. Birth control is health care! Today is Thanks, Birth Control Day 2024. Join us to break stigmas and say #ThxBirthControl! Learn more: https://lnkd.in/e2PYDT6 6 reasons people say #ThxBirthControl: 🩸Easing period flow and cramps 🤰Preventing pregnancy & STIs 💊Treating a medical condition 💦Having stress-free sex 🌈Reducing gender dysphoria 🧴Controlling acne Birth 👏🏽 Control 👏🏽 Is 👏🏽 Health 👏🏽 Care👏🏽

Yesterday, about 60 Des Moines University students helped us pack hundreds of K.I.S.S. Kits! 💋 We aim to Keep Iowans Sexually Savvy by providing *FREE* emergency contraception, condoms, pregnancy tests, lube, dental dams, and an information guide. Request a kit on our website at https://lnkd.in/gQDqshZa

This Native American Heritage Month, we can Be the #SourceForBetterHealth for #AmericanIndian and #AlaskaNative communities by understanding the relationship between social determinants of health, traditional healing, and food sovereignty. For more information and resources, visit: https://lnkd.in/gRtuA253 #NAHM2024

Today we're excited for the FREE virtual Iowa Maternal Health Symposium! FPCI's Tara Shochet will be presenting an Ignite Session on birth spacing and postpartum contraception this afternoon. This symposium will tackle the critical issues surrounding maternal health. The goal is to develop actionable strategies to improve maternal and infant health outcomes. The target audience includes healthcare professionals, researchers, policymakers, community leaders, and advocates. Learn more and sign up: https://lnkd.in/gR8jcPGd

We enjoyed exhibiting at the Iowa Rural Health Conference earlier this week! FPCI continues to work to ensure all Iowans, regardless of geography, rural or urban, have access to family planning care. That’s why we send 📬 our FREE reproductive health kits to anyone with an Iowa address! 💜 Request one today📲: https://lnkd.in/gQDqshZa

Health insurance companies would be required to cover all recommended OTC contraception products, such as condoms, spermicide, and emergency contraception, without a prescription and at no cost. What an amazing announcement! 🙌

Yesterday, FPCI team members Amy Zine and Allison Smith braved the first chilly Iowa day to see Freeda Womb! The giant inflatable IUD returned to Des Moines to remind folks of the importance of access to contraception, a critical component of public health. It allows individuals to plan their futures, pursue education and careers, and make informed decisions about when and how to start a family. Hormonal contraception can also be used to help with acne, premenstrual syndrome and PMDD, heavy and painful periods, endometriosis, polycystic ovarian syndrome, migraines, perimenopause symptoms, bone health, and reducing the risk of certain cancers. Let’s work together to preserve access to contraception and honor the rights of all individuals to make choices about their bodies, their health, and their futures.

October is Domestic Violence Awareness Month, raising awareness of domestic violence and its impact on individuals, families, and communities. Sexual and reproductive health providers who work with clients in a clinical setting have a unique opportunity to intervene in response to intimate partner violence (IPV). This 3-part video series, developed by the RHNTC in partnership with Futures Without Violence, demonstrates how providers can apply the Confidentiality, Universal Education + Empowerment, and Support (CUES) intervention in response to IPV. Each video presents a brief provider-client interaction, with tips for using CUES. Whether you're a clinical service provider, nurse, or health educator, we all have a role to play in addressing IPV: https://lnkd.in/gfvX2R2i #DVAM2024

HHS Office of Population Affairs (OPA) has released the Family Planning Annual Report (FPAR) 2023 National Summary. This FPAR presents data from grant recipients in the Title X family planning program (Title X) to monitor and report program performance. In 2023, Title X continued to rebuild the network and expand access to diverse clients nationwide. Title X grant recipients served nearly 2.8 million clients, a 7% increase from 2022 and an 80% increase from 2020. Read the full annual report and learn about the key findings from the 2023 FPAR. https://lnkd.in/g86YaWJ4

Access to contraception is a human right. It furthers the health and well-being not just of women and girls, but of their families and societies. Yet around the world, escalating inequality – tied to factors including race, displacement, education, and income – makes accessing contraceptives more difficult for millions of people. Every individual must be guaranteed the freedom to protect their reproductive health and to plan their family. Access to contraception is essential to bodily autonomy and to achieving one’s full potential; it helps reduce adolescent births, prevent maternal deaths, and further gender equality. The theme for World Contraception Day this year is: “A choice for all. Freedom to plan, power to choose.” Research suggests meeting the unmet need for contraception could avert more than half of maternal deaths by reducing higher-risk pregnancies, by increasing the spacing between births, and by decreasing the likelihood of unsafe abortions. Read more at https://lnkd.in/gMY5Z3fX #ThxBirthControl #WorldContraceptionDay