Differences Between Mistimed and Unwanted Pregnancies Among Women Who Have Live Births

Abstract

Clarifying the difference in risk between mistimed and unwanted pregnancies may help guide decisions regarding services to women and infants.

Prevalence and correlates of unintended pregnancy in Ghana: Analysis of 2014 Ghana Demographic and Health Survey

“…This observation might imply that as women have more children they become more conscious about measures to adopt in order to regulate their fertility rather than becoming pregnant unintendedly. This finding contradicts an earlier study by Denise [15]. The differences in outcome might be as a result of variations in other factors operating at these two different study areas as recognised by the ecosocial theory that various social factors induce health in diverse ways.…”

“…Generally, pregnancies are appreciated and welcome in rural Ghana than urban settings and this might partly account for the high tendency of unintended pregnancy among urban women [23]. Women in urban settings tend to be much focused on economic activities and their holistic development and as such are more probable to declare pregnancies unintended [15]. …”

“…In all, ten independent variables were selected and these independent variables were not chosen arbitrary but based on two main reasons. First, the choice of these variables was premised on the proposition of the underlying theory guiding this study (ecosocial theory) which posits that some societal structures (such as religious affiliation, marital status and educational attainment) induce women’s perception about intendedness of pregnancies and secondly by varied conclusions by some previous studies [14, 15]. Following this, the ten independent variables selected were age, wealth status, educational level, religion, marital status, residential status, occupation, parity, contraceptive use and intention as well as decision maker for contraceptive use.…”

Positive deviance, contraceptive self-efficacy and social desirability in sexually active adolescent females : a mixed methods approach.

“…These negative effects include an increased risk for maternal depression, delays in initiating prenatal care, a reduced likelihood of breastfeeding, and an increased risk of physical violence during pregnancy (Cheng, Schwarz, Douglas et al, 2009;D'Angelo, Gilbert, Rochat, Santelli, & Herold, 2004;Kost, Landry, & Darroch, 1998;Logan, Holcombe, Manlove, & Ryan, 2007).…”

“…There are health and economic repercussions for those experiencing unintended pregnancy that choose to carry the pregnancy to term including an increased risk for maternal depression and an increased risk of physical violence during pregnancy (Logan et al, 2007;Cheng et al, 2009;Kost et al, 1998;D'Angelo et al, 2004). Children born from unintentional pregnancies are more likely to experience birth defects and below average birth weights, have lower educational attainment and have more behavioral issues in their teen years (CDC, 2006;Logan et al, 2007).…”