Preconception care and contraception services: Opportunities for community pharmacists

• Published in: JAACP : Journal of the American College of Clinical Pharmacy 2019-08, Vol.2 (4), p.414-422
• Main Authors: Bright, David R., DiPietro Mager, Natalie A.
• Format: Article
• Language: English
• Subjects: community pharmacist; community pharmacy; contraception; preconception care
• ISSN: 2574-9870; 2574-9870
• DOI: 10.1002/jac5.1152

There are multiple opportunities for community pharmacists to take on greater roles in the delivery of preconception care and contraceptive services, and pharmacists have indicated interest in developing and expanding such services. Therefore, the objective of this review is to summarize published literature related to community pharmacists' provision of preconception care and contraceptive interventions to help guide related service development and raise awareness about potential opportunities to further expand and integrate such services into practice. Two searches were performed on February 5, 2019 of Medline, Academic Search Complete, and the International Pharmaceutical s databases from database inception to December 31, 2018. The first search utilized the terms [([contraception or birth control or family planning or contraceptive] OR contraception education OR contraceptives OR contraceptive access) AND ([pharmacists or pharmacist] OR pharmacy OR community pharmacy OR community pharmacist)]; the second search utilized the terms [(preconception OR preconception care OR preconception counseling OR preconception health OR [“preconception care” or “pre‐pregnancy care” or “prepregnancy care”]) AND ([pharmacists or pharmacist] OR pharmacy OR community pharmacy OR community pharmacist)]. Inclusion criteria for the review were articles written in English describing a community pharmacist‐delivered service in the United States. Six articles detailed community pharmacists' roles in contraception, including prescribing hormonal and emergency contraception and administration of injectable contraception. Each study found high rates of patient uptake and satisfaction with these services. One article detailed community pharmacists' provision of preconception care services; again, there was rapid uptake of the service. These articles together highlighted the logistical ease, economic viability, and patient acceptance of such services. Opportunities to expand and integrate these services exist. Published data show that community pharmacists have demonstrated provision of contraceptive and preconception care services in the US, and opportunities exist to grow these programs.