Prevention of Unintended Pregnancies

 Unintended pregnancies are pregnancies that are unplanned, mistimed, or unwanted at the time of conception. Unintended pregnancies are unwanted pregnancies, for at least one of the couples. About 210 million pregnancies occur each year worldwide, of which 87 million are unplanned, and 41 million continue to birth (Yazdkhasti, M., Pourreza, Pirak, & Abdi, 2015). 

In 2008, the total number of unsafe abortions was 21-22 million worldwide, and 22 in every 1000 women aged 15-44 years had an unsafe abortion. The estimated maternal mortality due to unsafe abortion is 47000 (13% of maternal mortality) in 2008. In the United States of America, about fifty percent of pregnancies are unintended, and approximately 48% of reproductive-age American women have experienced at least one unwanted pregnancy. Statistics show that when compared to wanted ones, unwanted children are at higher risk of experiencing negative physical and psychological health issues, and they tend to drop out of high school and show delinquent behavior during adolescence (Yazdkhasti, M., Pourreza, Pirak, & Abdi, 2015). 

How to Prevent Unintended Pregnancies

Unintended pregnancies can be prevented by: 

• Offering women contraceptive methods that are FDA-approved.
• Use contraceptives every time you have sex.
• Take the emergency contraceptive pill if you did not use contraceptives during sex.
• Conducting assessments to identify the contraceptive methods that are safe for the patient.
• Helping the patient choose a contraception method and teaching her how to use it consistently and correctly.
• Providing a choice of one or more selected contraceptive methods.
• Identifying groups most at risk for unintended pregnancy and show the health impacts of unwanted pregnancy.
• Guiding health care providers who counsel women, men, and couples about contraception.
• Increasing access to contraception services (Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, 2019).

Unintended pregnancies can have adverse effects on both the mother and the child. Therefore, women at risk for unintended pregnancies must be counseled on the effective use of contraceptives to prevent these unwanted pregnancies.

By Nattlya A.

References

Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. (2019). Unintended Pregnancy.Division of Reproductive 

Health, National Center for Chronic Disease Prevention and Health Promotion. Retrieved from:

https://www.cdc.gov/reproductivehealth/contraception/unintendedpregnancy/index.htm

Yazdkhasti, M., Pourreza, A., Pirak, A., & Abdi, F. (2015). Unintended Pregnancy and It's Adverse 

Social and Economic Consequences on Health System: A Narrative Review Article. Iranian journal of public health, 44(1), 12–21.