Unintended pregnancy resolution among parous women in twelve low- and middle-income countries

Around 40% of pregnancies worldwide are unintended and a half of those are terminated. Yet, few international comparisons of unintended pregnancy resolution (choosing birth or abortion) exist. This study analysed how parous women's pregnancy intentions and abortion decisions are associated with...

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Bibliographic Details
Published in:Journal of biosocial science 2022-07, Vol.54 (4), p.698-724
Main Authors: Väisänen, Heini, Batyra, Ewa
Format: Article
Language:English
Subjects:
Abortion
Abortion, Induced
Birth control
Births
Child
Childbearing
Childbirth & labor
Communism
Contraception
Contraceptives
Cross cultural studies
Decision making
Demography
Developing Countries
Domestic violence
Family size
Female
Fertility
Health surveys
Humanities and Social Sciences
Humans
International comparisons
Legislation
Low income groups
Postcommunist societies
Pregnancy
Pregnancy, Unplanned
Sociodemographics
Unwanted pregnancy
Women
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Summary:Around 40% of pregnancies worldwide are unintended and a half of those are terminated. Yet, few international comparisons of unintended pregnancy resolution (choosing birth or abortion) exist. This study analysed how parous women's pregnancy intentions and abortion decisions are associated with their reproductive histories and country contexts using twelve Demographic and Health Surveys representing four context groups: post-Soviet/communist and Asian countries with liberal abortion legislation, and Asian and Latin American countries with restrictive abortion legislation. Similarities were found across contexts: preference to have children of both sexes, space births, stop childbearing after reaching desired family size and an increased likelihood of unintended pregnancy when using less-effective contraceptive methods versus none. Contextual factors most clearly associated with reports of unintended pregnancy resolution were type of abortion legislation and living in post-Soviet/communist contexts. Women's propensity to report abortions and unintended pregnancy varied by context and the decision-making processes for pregnancy versus fertility management were different.
ISSN:0021-9320
1469-7599
1469-7599
DOI:10.1017/S0021932021000225