16 Facts About Unintended pregnancy

Unintended pregnancy has been linked to numerous poor maternal and child health outcomes, regardless of the outcome of the pregnancy.

Efforts to decrease rates of unintended pregnancy have focused on improving access to effective contraception through improved counseling and removing barriers to contraception access.

Research on unintended pregnancy rates is challenging, as categorizing a pregnancy as "intended" or "unintended" does not capture the many complex considerations that go into a person's or couple's feelings towards the pregnancy itself or their reproductive plans in general.

However, for data collection purposes, an "unintended pregnancy" is defined as pregnancy that occurs either when a woman wanted to become pregnant in the future but not at the time she became pregnant, or one that occurred when she did not want to become pregnant then or at any time in the future.

Conversely, an "intended Unintended pregnancy" is one that is consciously desired at the time of conception or sooner.

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Quarter of unintended pregnancy happens in Africa and the average unintended pregnancy rate in Sub-Saharan Africa is 33.

Unintended pregnancy rates decreased with each level of educational attainment.

Unintended pregnancy pregnancies are more likely to be associated with abuse than intended pregnancies.

Women with an unintended pregnancy are more likely to develop depression during or after pregnancy.

Women with unintended pregnancy are at increased risk of physical violence during pregnancy and report feeling greater relationship instability.

Unintended pregnancy pregnancies are more likely to delivery prematurely, and have a greater likelihood of low birth weight, particularly for unwanted pregnancies.

Unintended pregnancy pregnancies have been associated with lower mother–child relationship quality.

Public cost of unintended pregnancy is estimated to be about 11 billion dollars per year in short-term medical costs.

Many of those at risk of unintended pregnancy have little income, so even though contraceptives are highly cost-effective, up-front cost can be a barrier.

Early ways of preventing unintended pregnancy included withdrawal and various alternatives to intercourse; they are difficult to use correctly and, while better than no method, have high failure rates compared to modern methods.

Rate of unintended pregnancy declined significantly from 1987 until 1994, due to increased contraceptive use.