Dr. Bennett's Research

Research Focus: Family planning, early pregnancy loss, long-acting reversible contraceptives (LARCs)

Women’s Healthcast: E-Visits for Contraception, featuring Eliza Bennett, MD, and Nicole Shapiro, NP, CNM

Can starting a new birth control method, or changing your method, be as easy as opening an app, answering a few questions about your health, and picking up your prescription? E-visits for contraception are increasingly popular, whether offered through clinics or online-only services. 

Associate Professor Eliza Bennett, MD, and Nicole Shapiro, NP, CNM, both members of the UW Ob-Gyn Division of Academic Specialists in Ob-Gyn, joined the Women’s Healthcast to talk about e-visits for birth control: how the process works, what kinds of birth control are available using this service, and why they launched an e-visit system for UW Health patients. 

Listen to E-Visits for Contraception now. 

Did you know the Women’s Healthcast is available on all your favorite podcast platforms? Whether you like to listen on Apple Podcasts, Spotify, Podbean, or anywhere else, you can find us! (Just search Women’s Healthcast, and while you’re at it, may as well subscribe!)    

Grand Rounds: Jacques, Bennett present “At a Loss? Diagnosis and Management of Nonviable Early Pregnancy”

On November 10, 2022, Assistant Professor Laura Jacques, MD, and Associate Professor Eliza Bennett, MD, both of the UW Ob-Gyn Division of Academic Specialists in Ob-Gyn, presented the Grand Rounds lecture “At a Loss? Diagnosis and Management of Nonviable Early Pregnancy”.

In the lecture, they examined the data for ultrasound diagnosis of early pregnancy loss, explained the options and data behind medical management of early pregnancy loss, appraised the differences between manual and electric vacuum aspiration in early pregnancy loss management, and more.

Watch the whole lecture here!

Cutler to take over as Ryan Residency Program director

Later this year, Abigail Cutler, MD, MPH, assistant professor in the UW Ob-Gyn Division of Academic Specialists in Ob-Gyn, will become director of the Ryan Residency Program. She will take over from Associate Professor Eliza Bennett, MD, who has led the program since 2010.

The Ryan Residency Program “works directly with ob-gyn residency programs to integrate training in abortion and contraception care (family planning) as a required rotation. All programs establish or expand abortion services in their teaching hospitals and may also create new partnerships with local clinics to train residents.”

Cutler, who is fellowship-trained in complex family planning, joined the department in 2021. Since arriving in Wisconsin, she has taken a leading role in resident education around family planning, developing a new curriculum and working tirelessly to organize an away rotation that will allow residents to build their skills outside of Wisconsin. Her expertise and insight will be invaluable in this role.

Please join us in thanking Dr. Bennett leading the Ryan Residency Program for 12 years, and congratulating Dr. Cutler on this new role!

In the News: Bennett discusses post-Roe realities

Since the United States Supreme Court overturned the constitutionally protected right to abortion on June 24, 2022, UW Ob-Gyn Associate Professor Eliza Bennett, MD, of the Division of Academic Specialists in Ob-Gyn, discussed post-Roe realities in Wisconsin with several news outlets:

With abortion blocked, what happens to the health of the mother? – Wisconsin Examiner

In an article about complexities of Wisconsin’s abortion ban exemption in cases where the health of the pregnant patient is at risk, Bennett discussed common conditions that can make pregnancy dangerous, and how restrictions are making it challenging for physicians to provide the best possible care:

“In countries with restrictive abortion laws, she says, there have been “really striking cases of maternal death” among women with intended pregnancies who were hospitalized with an illness but not considered sick enough to qualify for an abortion that could have been lifesaving. 

“Because every now and then something goes terribly wrong in a pregnancy,” Bennett says, “and people are confined to an institution where they are subjected to laws [preventing abortion], where intervention is delayed to a point where they become so ill that their lives cannot be saved.””

Options for Wisconsinites seeking abortion remain, but health experts say not ideal – Channel 3000

In this interview, Bennett expresses frustration at abortion restrictions that may lead more people to self-manage their care:

“According to health experts, when used correctly, the pills are about as safe and effective as a surgical abortion but have a shorter gestational limit of 11 weeks.

Still, for UW Health OBGYN Dr. Eliza Bennett that isn’t ideal, believing many people would desire and benefit from having a physician to be able to turn to for assistance.

“It’s a sad day when in the United States, a country with many many resources, that people are going to be relegated to self-managing their healthcare,” she said.”

Wisconsin physicians speak out against abortion law – HGN News

In this article, Bennett addresses many of the gray areas, including ectopic pregnancy care, miscarriage management, and fetal anomalies, that Wisconsin’s 1849 abortion ban does not adequately address:

“Bennett noted that historically, doctors have counseled patients, explaining the risks and allowing the patient to decide whether to proceed with a pregnancy.

“But now we don’t have that ability to offer patients that kind of leeway, or at least we don’t know if we have that ability, because there’s no guidance, there’s no case law that gives us that insight to tell us when we can intervene or when we’re not allowed to,” Bennett said, calling the lack of clarity an “enormous issue.””