Pharmacists Leverage Accessibility to Provide Reproductive Health Education

Arkansas pharmacists are stepping into a widening gap in reproductive health care—one measured not just in miles to the nearest clinic, but in stark statistics. In a single year, more than 1000 women in Arkansas gave birth without ever seeing a health care provider, according to Duane Jones, BSPharm, regional pharmacy supervisor at Harps Food Stores Inc. At the same time, over 52% of pregnancies in the state are unplanned, and Arkansas ranks fourth in the US for maternal and fetal mortality.

Against this backdrop, community pharmacists are emerging as some of the most accessible—and sometimes only—health care professionals many women encounter. In this interview, Jones describes how oral contraceptive prescribing at the pharmacy counter is becoming a critical access point for care, particularly for women who may never have a regular primary care physician.

The pharmacist's role goes far beyond handing over a pill pack. They sit down one-on-one with patients to walk through the details of why a particular contraceptive was chosen, how to take it correctly, what to do if a pill is missed, and which other medications might make birth control less effective. For patients on progestin-only mini-pills, for example, missing the strict 3-hour dosing window can significantly increase the risk of pregnancy—information that too often is buried in a pamphlet that goes unread until something goes wrong.

The pharmacists also see these encounters as opportunities to spot underlying health issues and connect patients back to physicians or specialists. With an estimated 40% of current prescribers expected to retire in the coming decade, they argue that empowering pharmacists to prescribe and counsel on contraception is not just a convenience—it's a public health imperative for a state struggling with poor maternal outcomes and persistent gaps in care.

"Having ease of access to pharmacists for this care is vital to the health and well-being of the citizens in this state," Jones said. "That's the biggest benefit that we have to these patients and making them comfortable coming to the pharmacy [and] understanding that they're actually going to get excellent care."