Unintended Pregnancies
An Institute of Medicine Committee on Unintended Pregnancy in 1995 concluded that one of the reasons for the high rates of unintended pregnancy in the U.S. was the failure of private health insurance to cover contraceptives.
Health risks
In the U.S., approximately 50% of all pregnancies are unintended (that is the pregnancy is either unwanted or badly mis-timed). This is the highest rate of all industrialized nations. When women carry unintended pregnancies to term:
Health risks
In the U.S., approximately 50% of all pregnancies are unintended (that is the pregnancy is either unwanted or badly mis-timed). This is the highest rate of all industrialized nations. When women carry unintended pregnancies to term:
- Women are more likely to postpone or not obtain prenatal care and to continue to use substances such as tobacco and alcohol.
- Their babies are at greater risk of being low birth weight (weighing less than five lbs. [2500 grams metric] at birth), of dying in their first year of life, and of being abused.
- Domestic violence is three times more likely
- Divorce is three times more likely
- The father is more likely to be absent
- Women are less likely to seek care for specific diseases and conditions that have serious consequences for pregnancy, such as diabetes. These are best managed when care begins prior to conception.
- Unwanted children are far more likely to have encounters with the criminal justice system as they grow up
- In any single year, 85 of 100 sexually active women of reproductive age not using a contraceptive method become pregnant. In contrast, of 100 oral contraceptive users, only between 0.1 and 5 percent become pregnant during the first year of use (Trussell et al., 1998).
- Because the likelihood of pregnancy is so great when contraception is not used, 53 percent of all unintended pregnancies in the U.S. occur among the 10 percent of fertile women who use no method and leave pregnancy to chance (Harlap et al., 1991).
- Reducing unintended pregnancy is key to reducing the number of abortions - more than half of unintended pregnancies end in abortion (Henshaw, 1998).
- Reflecting the widespread occurrence of unintended pregnancy, abortions are obtained by women in all income categories. In 1992, for example, less than one-fourth of all abortions were obtained by teenagers.
Cited References:
Harlap, Susan, et al. (1991). Preventing Pregnancy, Protecting Health: A New Look at Birth Control Choices in the United States. New York: The Alan Guttmacher Institute.
Henshaw, Stanley K. (1998). "Unintended Pregnancy in the United States." Family Planning Perspectives, 30 (January/February), 24-29.
Trussell, James, et al. (1998). Contraceptive Technology, 17th ed. New York: Ardent Media.
Institute of Medicine, The Best Intentions: Unintended Pregnancy and the Well-Being of children and Families, 1995.
Harlap, Susan, et al. (1991). Preventing Pregnancy, Protecting Health: A New Look at Birth Control Choices in the United States. New York: The Alan Guttmacher Institute.
Henshaw, Stanley K. (1998). "Unintended Pregnancy in the United States." Family Planning Perspectives, 30 (January/February), 24-29.
Trussell, James, et al. (1998). Contraceptive Technology, 17th ed. New York: Ardent Media.
Institute of Medicine, The Best Intentions: Unintended Pregnancy and the Well-Being of children and Families, 1995.
