Biography
Dr. Laura Swan is a social worker and reproductive health equity researcher whose work examines power, autonomy, and decision-making in reproductive healthcare. Her research is grounded in the principles of person-centered care and seeks to identify and address the interpersonal, clinical, and structural factors that shape reproductive health experiences and outcomes. She is a mixed-methods researcher and leading scholar in the study of contraceptive coercion, having developed a nationally recognized research program examining its prevalence, consequences, and policy implications.
Dr. Swan is a Senior Research Scientist in the Reproductive Equity Action Lab (REAL) within the University of Wisconsin School of Medicine and Public Health. Since 2021, she has been affiliated with the UW Center for Demography and Ecology (CDE) as a CDE Affiliate.
Using quantitative, qualitative, and community-engaged approaches, Dr. Swan studies reproductive autonomy, contraceptive care, abortion access, and reproductive health inequities. Her scholarship has contributed to the development of measures of reproductive autonomy and contraceptive coercion, expanded understanding of patient experiences in reproductive healthcare, and identified how healthcare, policy, and social contexts influence reproductive decision-making, access to care, and well-being. Through interdisciplinary collaborations, her work contributes to CDE’s reproductive health research portfolio and to population science more broadly.
Home page
Reproductive Equity Action Lab