Abstract
Objectives
This study is to assess frequency and correlates of women's reports of unintended
pregnancy risk in the general population in France.
Study design
Data are drawn from the FECOND survey, a national probability survey on sexual and
reproductive health conducted in France in 2010. We identified 2969 women ages 15–49 years who had heterosexual intercourse in the 4 weeks prior to the survey and who were at potential risk of unintended pregnancy.
We evaluate women's reports of unintended pregnancy risk in the last 4 weeks and identify correlates of such reports using logistic regression modeling.
Results
Fifteen percent of women thought that they could have become pregnant in the last
4 weeks without wanting to do so. Reports of unintended pregnancy risk were higher among
women in very difficult financial situations (OR=1.87 [1.32–2.65]) and foreign-born women (OR=1.53 [1.03–2.29]). Exposure in the form of contraceptive practices and errors in use
of contraception were the strongest correlates of women's reports of unintended pregnancy
risk, yet among the 9.8% of women who reported inconsistent use of contraception or
unprotected intercourse in the last 4 weeks, 63% did not think they could have become pregnant unintentionally.
Conclusions
Significant discrepancies between pregnancy exposure and women's report of unintended
pregnancy risk call for better SRH educational programs to improve pregnancy awareness
in the general population. On the other hand, targeted interventions toward women
who report being at risk of unintended pregnancy may contribute toward reducing unintended
pregnancies given the frequency of such events.
Keywords
To read this article in full you will need to make a payment
Purchase one-time access:
Academic & Personal: 24 hour online accessCorporate R&D Professionals: 24 hour online accessOne-time access price info
- For academic or personal research use, select 'Academic and Personal'
- For corporate R&D use, select 'Corporate R&D Professionals'
Subscribe:
Subscribe to ContraceptionAlready a print subscriber? Claim online access
Already an online subscriber? Sign in
Register: Create an account
Institutional Access: Sign in to ScienceDirect
References
- Contraception in France: new context, new practices?.Popul Soc. 2012; 492: 1-4
- Effectiveness of family planning policies: the abortion paradox.PLoS One. 2014; 9: e91539https://doi.org/10.1371/journal.pone.0091539
- Patterns of contraceptive use before and after an abortion: results from a nationally representative survey of women undergoing an abortion in France.Contraception. 2010; 82: 337-344
- Contraceptive failures and determinants of emergency contraception use.Contraception. 2006; 74: 208-213
- Population effect of increased access to emergency contraceptive pills: a systematic review.Obstet Gynecol. 2007; 109: 181-188
- Advance provision of emergency contraception for pregnancy prevention.Cochrane Database of Systematic Reviews 2007. 2010; CD005497https://doi.org/10.1002/14651858.CD005497.pub2
- Young women's perceptions of pregnancy risk and use of emergency contraception: findings from a qualitative study.Contraception. 2009; 79: 310-315
- The remaining barriers to the use of emergency contraception perception of pregnancy risk by women undergoing induced abortions.Contraception. 2005; 71: 202-207
- U.S. women's one-year contraceptive use patterns, 2004.Perspect Sex Reprod Health. 2007; 39: 48-55
- Improving survey partcipation.Public Opin Q. 2013; 77: 666-695
- Moving forward: family planning in the era of health reform.Guttmacher Institute, New York2014
- Historical origins of the health belief model.Health Educ Monogr. 1974; 2: 328-335
- Reasons for unprotected intercourse: analysis of the PRAMS survey.Contraception. 2007; 75: 361-366
- Unintended pregnancy and use of emergency contraception among a large cohort of women attending for antenatal care or abortion in Scotland.Lancet. 2006; 368: 1782-1787
- Perceived susceptibility to pregnancy and its association with safer sex, contraceptive adherence and subsequent pregnancy among adolescent and young adult women.Contraception. 2013; 87: 437-442
- “It just happens”: a qualitative study exploring low-income women's perspectives on pregnancy intention and planning.Contraception. 2015; 91: 150-156
- Pregnancy scares and subsequent unintended pregnancy.Demogr Res. 2014; 31: 1229-1242
- Adolescents with negative pregnancy test results. An accessible at-risk group.JAMA. 1996; 275: 113-117
- Toward a multidimensional measure of pregnancy intentions: evidence from the United States.Stud Fam Plan. 2009 Jun; 40: 87-100
- Childbearing motivations, desires, and intentions: a theoretical framework.Genet Soc Gen Psychol Monogr. 1994; 120: 223-258
- A blessing I can't afford: factors underlying the paradox of happiness about unintended pregnancy.Soc Sci Med. 2015; 132 ([Epub 2015 Mar 19]): 149-155https://doi.org/10.1016/j.socscimed.2015.03.038
Article info
Publication history
Published online: March 19, 2016
Accepted:
February 28,
2016
Received in revised form:
February 26,
2016
Received:
October 27,
2015
Footnotes
☆None of the authors have competing interests.
Identification
Copyright
© 2016 Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved.
