Expanding opportunity, increasing access

Nearly half of the 6 million pregnancies in the United States each year are unplanned.

Our mission: Upstream USA works to expand opportunity by reducing unplanned pregnancy across the U.S. We work in partnership with health centers to strengthen reproductive care and autonomy by increasing equitable access to the full range of contraceptive options.

Upstream is on track to achieve nationwide impact at scale.

Updates

May 31, 2023

Getting to Know Dr. Chinwe Efuribe

Imagine walking into a doctor’s office where your personality, your wants, and your needs are showcased in every corner of the office. From…

Read Post

April 11, 2023

My Birth Story by Danielle S

February 23, 2023

Contraceptive Care is Preventative Health Care

We are data-driven, sustainable and committed to our partnerships

To expand equitable access to birth control, Upstream provides CME/CEU-eligible training and technical assistance to health centers across an entire state at once. We meet each health center where they and their patients are, monitoring our interventions as we go.

Our Work

Our data sets us apart

After the first three years of Upstream’s partnership with the state of Delaware, there was a simulated 24 percent decrease in unplanned pregnancies among Title X patients aged 20-39.

Graph comparing the simulated 24% reduction in unplanned pregnancies in Delaware among Title X patients to the simulated 3% reduction in unplanned pregnancies among Title X patients across the U.S.

FamilyScape simulations using state-level Title X data from Delaware and from the U.S.

Title X data, 2014-2017. Study limited to women at risk of unintended pregnancy (sexually active and not pregnant or seeking pregnancy).

Results

Press

Everybody knows about Planned Parenthood and the great work they do, but there are also a lot of smaller, worthy organizations. Like Upstream, which has been working to make sure women who want birth control can get the care they need.

It May Not Feel Like It Right Now, but There Is a World of Good We Can Do

Working with an organization called Upstream, Delaware has rolled out the program to nearly every medical provider in the state over the past three years. It’s having big effects on the number of women requesting and receiving contraception in a state that recently had the nation’s highest rate of unplanned pregnancies.”

The New York Times features Upstream

In Upstream, Blue Meridian found an organization and leaders who had vision, who could take ownership of their destiny by building a plan, and who were prepared to hold themselves accountable to performance.”

From Promising Model to Major Investment

To make sure that more women were educated about the full range of birth control choices, they instituted a “pregnancy intention” question, so that every time a woman in Delaware sees a health-care professional—even for a wellness checkup or a case of the flu—she’s asked, “Do you intend to become pregnant in the next year?”