The City of St. Louis Department of Health is participating in the new “Free EC” project to offer no-cost emergency contraceptive kits to Missourians. Launched in early 2023 by the Missouri Family Health Council, the Department of Health is one of more than 60 sites statewide where kits are available.
“This project provides necessary access to reproductive health information and birth control methods, which is needed after recent statewide changes to how we provide those services,” says Dr. Mati Hlatshwayo Davis, St. Louis director of health.
“The Department of Health continues to work toward equitable health access for all St. Louisans, including reproductive care.”
Kits can be picked up at the Department of Health’s Communicable Disease Bureau in Room 4027 between 8:30 a.m. and 4:30 p.m., according to a statement on the City of St. Louis Department of Health’s website.
“One of the things that has changed about this project is that we now have 60 partners across the state providing emergency contraception in different areas. The mayor’s office brought this initiative to us, and we’re proud and happy to support it,” Suzanna Alexander, bureau chief of the Communicable Disease Division, said.
A goal of the Free Emergency Contraception project is to eliminate birth control barriers, including geographical and financial.
“The City of Saint Louis Department of Health has always had a screening clinic for STIs, and one of the things that we provide is birth control in the form of condoms, so it made sense for us to carry another form of birth control as well as soon as it was made available to us,” Alexander said.
“While we would never suggest that Plan B is to be used regularly and consistently as birth control; it is good to know that it is an option when you need it the most.”
In addition to providing family planning services, Alexander said services provided by the health department aim to combat another issue: the rise of STIs, such as syphilis and HIV, being transmitted through pregnancy.
In 2021, 63 congenital syphilis cases were reported in Missouri, representing the highest number of cases reported since 1994, according to a report from the City of St. Louis Department of Health on their website.
One of the major problems Alexander sees is the increase of transmissions from pregnant people who have a STI to unborn children.
“One of the big problems with women in our area who have substance use disorders, who have been involved with the criminal legal system, they often have transient or unstable housing, no transportation, and it is difficult to find them when we lose track of them after their initial prenatal care visit or emergency room visit,” Alexander said.
“It is treatable in the womb; anything that starts to happen can be reversed with a full course of treatment.”
Congenital syphilis occurs when syphilis is transmitted from mother to baby during pregnancy and can cause miscarriage, stillbirths, infant death, and long-term disability, according to data from the City of St. Louis Department of Health.
Each case is preventable with timely maternal syphilis testing and treatment. From 2020 through 2022, there were 56 cases of congenital syphilis reported in St. Louis County and the City of St. Louis. This is more cases than in the previous 20 years combined (47 cases in 1999-2019).
“Communicable diseases are a direct result of institutionalized racism because when you do not have economic opportunities, barriers to access to care, generational wealth, or any kind of stability in your finances, you have infectious diseases,” Alexander said.
“Folks can’t get to the doctor or get health insurance if they’re not working, and the people who bear the brunt of that are Black people and have been for hundreds of years. We just need to do better.”
The City of St. Louis Department of Health provides free, confidential sexual health testing services through its “Health Stop” testing and referral center.
