Prevalence, determinants, and outcomes of unintended pregnancy in Sohag district, Egypt

Abstract

Background: Unintended pregnancies may be mistimed or unwanted. It represents 40% of all pregnancies, and it had multiple risky health outcomes. It is essential to understand the factors affecting unintended pregnancies and their consequences to develop strategies that help prevent them. The present study is conducted to identify the prevalence, determinants, and outcomes of unintended pregnancies in Sohag district, Egypt. Methods: A cross-sectional study was conducted in Sohag district, 2016. Five hundred fifty-four ever married women aged 18-49 years whose last pregnancy was in the 3 years preceding the data collection date were randomly selected from rural and urban localities. Data were collected through home visits using a validated questionnaire. In this study, Sohag city represents the urban place, while Tunis and El-Sheikh Makram villages represent the rural places. Results: Nearly one third (30.7%) of the study sample had an unintended pregnancy within the last 3 years from the time of interview. Regression analysis showed that young women < 30 (OR = 2.24, 95% CI 1.12-4.48, p = 0.02), young husbands ≤ 30 (OR = 5.44, 95% CI 1.14-26.11, p = 0.03), women working for cash (OR = 6.16, 95% CI 3.15-13. 92, p < 0.0001), monthly income ≤ 1200 LE (OR = 34, 95% CI 6.41-187.52, p < 0.0001), and spacing < 24 months (OR = 8.79, 95% CI 4.33-17.80, p < 0.0001) were risk factors for mistimed pregnancy. On the other hand, women working for cash (OR = 11.43, 95% CI 3.22-40.62, p < 0.0001), living children ≥ 5 (OR = 11.45, 95% CI 2. 84-46.07, p = 0.001), and the woman's perception of her family size as higher than the ideal (OR = 394.8, 95% CI 97.36-1601.17, p < 0.0001) were risk factors for unwanted pregnancy. Mistimed and unwanted pregnancies were significantly associated with late start of antenatal care (ANC), low birth weight (LBW), and no breastfeeding. In addition, unwanted pregnancies were associated with more pregnancy complications. Conclusions and recommendations: Unintended pregnancy represents a public health problem in Sohag. Therefore, improving services in rural areas and improving the economic level and effective use of family planning methods could reduce the risks associated with the unintended pregnancy.

Effect of Unwanted Pregnancy on Antenatal Care in Rural and Urban Areas In Indonesia

“…Women in rural areas are more likely to experience unwanted pregnancies than in urban areas. This study shows the same results with research conducted in Egypt [7]. These results do not agree with other studies conducted in Sudan [8] which reported no significant differences between urban and rural women.…”

“…Unwanted pregnancy is an important public health problem throughout the world. It not only affects women, but also affects their families and communities [7]. Table 1 shows that unwanted pregnancy among respondents in urban areas is greater [8.9%] than in rural areas [6.3%].…”

Factors related to childbearing intentions among women: a cross-sectional study in health centers, Saveh, Iran

“…Another study showed that cultural factors strongly affect the parent-child relationship, which subsequently is related to reproductive behaviors [4]. However, human behaviors, including fertility behavior, are dependent on the social and cultural factors and individual and cultural differences that exist in communities and lead to different fertility behaviors [5].…”

Factors associated with unintended pregnancy in Ethiopia; further analysis of the 2016 Ethiopian demographic health survey data.

“…Studies conducted in Kenya, Egypt, Nigeria and South Africa indicated that the prevalence of unintended pregnancies was 24%, 30.7%, 35.9% and 64.33% respectively (8)(9)(10)(11). According to studies conducted in different parts of Ethiopia, the prevalence of unintended pregnancy ranged from 13.7%to 41.5%.…”

“…Studies conducted in different African countries identified that age, place of residence, marital status, ethnicity, types of employment, educational status, numbers of living children, monthly income and women autonomy, parity, gravidity, knowledge on contraceptives, accessibility of contraceptives as determinants of unintended pregnancy (8)(9)(10)(11)20). Similarly, studies conducted in various parts of Ethiopia identified age, residence, religion, marital status, parity, visiting health professionals, history of abortion, age at first birth, family size, educational status, gravidity, distance from health facility, history of still birth and knowledge on modern contraceptive methods as determinants of unintended pregnancy (12)(13)(14)(15)(16)(17)(18)(19).…”