IDEAS home Printed from https://ideas.repec.org/a/plo/pone00/0165621.html
   My bibliography  Save this article

Prevalence and Determinants of Unintended Pregnancy in Mchinji District, Malawi; Using a Conceptual Hierarchy to Inform Analysis

Author

Listed:
  • Jennifer Anne Hall
  • Geraldine Barrett
  • Tambosi Phiri
  • Andrew Copas
  • Address Malata
  • Judith Stephenson

Abstract

Background: In 2012 there were around 85 million unintended pregnancies globally. Unintended pregnancies unnecessarily expose women to the risks associated with pregnancy, unsafe abortion and childbirth, thereby contributing to maternal mortality and morbidity. Studies have identified a range of potential determinants of unplanned pregnancy but have used varying methodologies, measures of pregnancy intention and analysis techniques. Consequently there are many contradictions in their findings. Identifying women at risk of unplanned pregnancy is important as this information can be used to help with designing and targeting interventions and developing preventative policies. Methods: 4,244 pregnant women from Mchinji District, Malawi were interviewed at home between March and December 2013. They were asked about their pregnancy intention using the validated Chichewa version of the London Measure of Unplanned Pregnancy, as well as their socio-demographics and obstetric and psychiatric history. A conceptual hierarchical model of the determinants of pregnancy intention was developed and used to inform the analysis. Multiple random effects linear regression was used to explore the ways in which factors determine pregnancy intention leading to the identification of women at risk of unplanned pregnancies. Results: 44.4% of pregnancies were planned. On univariate analyses pregnancy intention was associated with mother and father’s age and education, marital status, number of live children, birth interval, socio-economic status, intimate partner violence and previous depression all at p

Suggested Citation

  • Jennifer Anne Hall & Geraldine Barrett & Tambosi Phiri & Andrew Copas & Address Malata & Judith Stephenson, 2016. "Prevalence and Determinants of Unintended Pregnancy in Mchinji District, Malawi; Using a Conceptual Hierarchy to Inform Analysis," PLOS ONE, Public Library of Science, vol. 11(10), pages 1-22, October.
    • Handle: RePEc:plo:pone00:0165621
    DOI: 10.1371/journal.pone.0165621
    as

    Download full text from publisher

    File URL: https://journals.plos.org/plosone/article?id=10.1371/journal.pone.0165621
    Download Restriction: no
    File URL: https://journals.plos.org/plosone/article/file?id=10.1371/journal.pone.0165621&type=printable
    Download Restriction: no
    File URL: https://libkey.io/10.1371/journal.pone.0165621?utm_source=ideas
    LibKey link: if access is restricted and if your library uses this service, LibKey will redirect you to where you can use your library subscription to access this item
    ---><---

    References listed on IDEAS

    as
    1. Donatien Beguy & Joyce Mumah & Lindsey Gottschalk, 2014. "Unintended Pregnancies among Young Women Living in Urban Slums: Evidence from a Prospective Study in Nairobi City, Kenya," PLOS ONE, Public Library of Science, vol. 9(7), pages 1-10, July.
    2. Eggleston, E. & Tsui, A.O. & Kotelchuck, M., 2001. "Unintended pregnancy and low birthweight in Ecuador," American Journal of Public Health, American Public Health Association, vol. 91(5), pages 808-810.
    3. Theodore Joyce & Robert Kaestner & Sanders Korenman, 2000. "The effect of pregnancy intention on child development," Demography, Springer;Population Association of America (PAA), vol. 37(1), pages 83-94, February.
    4. Barrett, Geraldine & Wellings, Kaye, 2002. "What is a 'planned' pregnancy? empirical data from a British study," Social Science & Medicine, Elsevier, vol. 55(4), pages 545-557, August.
    5. Mark R. Rosenzweig & Kenneth I. Wolpin, 1993. "Maternal Expectations and Ex Post Rationalizations: The Usefulness of Survey Information on the Wantedness of Children," Journal of Human Resources, University of Wisconsin Press, vol. 28(2), pages 205-229.
    Full references (including those not matched with items on IDEAS)

    Citations

    Citations are extracted by the CitEc Project, subscribe to its RSS feed for this item.
    as


    Cited by:

    1. Canaan Negash Seifu & Paul Patrick Fahey & Tewodros Getachew Hailemariam & Evan Atlantis, 2020. "Association of husbands' education status with unintended pregnancy in their wives in southern Ethiopia: A cross-sectional study," PLOS ONE, Public Library of Science, vol. 15(7), pages 1-11, July.
    2. Muluneh Alene & Leltework Yismaw & Yebelay Berelie & Bekalu Kassie & Reta Yeshambel & Moges Agazhe Assemie, 2020. "Prevalence and determinants of unintended pregnancy in Ethiopia: A systematic review and meta-analysis of observational studies," PLOS ONE, Public Library of Science, vol. 15(4), pages 1-15, April.
    3. Md Nuruzzaman Khan & Melissa L Harris & Deborah Loxton, 2020. "Assessing the effect of pregnancy intention at conception on the continuum of care in maternal healthcare services use in Bangladesh: Evidence from a nationally representative cross-sectional survey," PLOS ONE, Public Library of Science, vol. 15(11), pages 1-20, November.

    Most related items

    These are the items that most often cite the same works as this one and are cited by the same works as this one.
    1. Emily Smith-Greenaway & Christie Sennott, 2016. "Death and Desirability: Retrospective Reporting of Unintended Pregnancy After a Child’s Death," Demography, Springer;Population Association of America (PAA), vol. 53(3), pages 805-834, June.
    2. Valente, Christine, 2014. "Access to abortion, investments in neonatal health, and sex-selection: Evidence from Nepal," Journal of Development Economics, Elsevier, vol. 107(C), pages 225-243.
    3. Wanchuan Lin & Juan Pantano & Shuqiao Sun, 2020. "Birth order and unwanted fertility," Journal of Population Economics, Springer;European Society for Population Economics, vol. 33(2), pages 413-440, April.
    4. Cuong Viet Nguyen, 2018. "The long-term effects of mistimed pregnancy on children’s education and employment," Journal of Population Economics, Springer;European Society for Population Economics, vol. 31(3), pages 937-968, July.
    5. Jessica Houston Su & Fenaba R. Addo, 2018. "Born Without a Silver Spoon: Race, Wealth, and Unintended Childbearing," Journal of Family and Economic Issues, Springer, vol. 39(4), pages 600-615, December.
    6. Nuevo-Chiquero, Ana, 2014. "The labor force effects of unplanned childbearing," Labour Economics, Elsevier, vol. 29(C), pages 91-101.
    7. Hope Corman & Dhaval Dave & Nancy E. Reichman, 2018. "Evolution of the Infant Health Production Function," Southern Economic Journal, John Wiley & Sons, vol. 85(1), pages 6-47, July.
    8. Saima Bashir & Karen Benjamin Guzzo, 2024. "Perceived Spousal Concordance on Desired Family Size and Birth Intendedness Among Second and Higher-Order Births in Pakistan," Population Research and Policy Review, Springer;Southern Demographic Association (SDA), vol. 43(5), pages 1-24, October.
    9. Seema Jayachandran, 2017. "Fertility Decline and Missing Women," American Economic Journal: Applied Economics, American Economic Association, vol. 9(1), pages 118-139, January.
    10. Jane Waldfogel & Wen-Jui Han & Jeanne Brooks-Gunn, 2002. "The effects of early maternal employment on child cognitive development," Demography, Springer;Population Association of America (PAA), vol. 39(2), pages 369-392, May.
    11. Stevens, Lindsay M., 2015. "Planning parenthood: Health care providers' perspectives on pregnancy intention, readiness, and family planning," Social Science & Medicine, Elsevier, vol. 139(C), pages 44-52.
    12. Kasey Buckles & Melanie E. Guldi & Lucie Schmidt, 2019. "Fertility Trends in the United States, 1980-2017: The Role of Unintended Births," Department of Economics Working Papers 2019-20, Department of Economics, Williams College.
    13. Pamela Giustinelli, 2016. "Group Decision Making With Uncertain Outcomes: Unpacking Child–Parent Choice Of The High School Track," International Economic Review, Department of Economics, University of Pennsylvania and Osaka University Institute of Social and Economic Research Association, vol. 57(2), pages 573-602, May.
    14. Richard Layte & Anne Nolan, 2015. "Eligibility for free GP care and the utilisation of GP services by children in Ireland," International Journal of Health Economics and Management, Springer, vol. 15(1), pages 3-27, March.
    15. Martha J. Bailey, 2013. "Fifty Years of Family Planning: New Evidence on the Long-Run Effects of Increasing Access to Contraception," Brookings Papers on Economic Activity, Economic Studies Program, The Brookings Institution, vol. 44(1 (Spring), pages 341-409.
    16. Aparna Lhila & Kosali Simon, 2008. "Prenatal health investment decisions: Does the child’s sex matter?," Demography, Springer;Population Association of America (PAA), vol. 45(4), pages 885-905, November.
    17. Quy-Toan Do & Tung D. Phung, 2010. "The Importance of Being Wanted," American Economic Journal: Applied Economics, American Economic Association, vol. 2(4), pages 236-253, October.
    18. Heaton, Tim B. & Forste, Renata & Hoffmann, John P. & Flake, Dallan, 2005. "Cross-national variation in family influences on child health," Social Science & Medicine, Elsevier, vol. 60(1), pages 97-108, January.
    19. Egerson Daniel & Adeojo Opeyemi & Omu Ebikaboere Ruth & Orugboh Gabriel., 2020. "Understanding Childbearing for Households in Emerging Slum Communities in Lagos State, Nigeria," International Journal of Research and Innovation in Social Science, International Journal of Research and Innovation in Social Science (IJRISS), vol. 4(9), pages 554-560, September.
    20. Fertig, Angela R. & Watson, Tara, 2009. "Minimum drinking age laws and infant health outcomes," Journal of Health Economics, Elsevier, vol. 28(3), pages 737-747, May.

    More about this item

    Statistics

    Access and download statistics

    Corrections

    All material on this site has been provided by the respective publishers and authors. You can help correct errors and omissions. When requesting a correction, please mention this item's handle: RePEc:plo:pone00:0165621. See general information about how to correct material in RePEc.

    If you have authored this item and are not yet registered with RePEc, we encourage you to do it here. This allows to link your profile to this item. It also allows you to accept potential citations to this item that we are uncertain about.

    If CitEc recognized a bibliographic reference but did not link an item in RePEc to it, you can help with this form .

    If you know of missing items citing this one, you can help us creating those links by adding the relevant references in the same way as above, for each refering item. If you are a registered author of this item, you may also want to check the "citations" tab in your RePEc Author Service profile, as there may be some citations waiting for confirmation.

    For technical questions regarding this item, or to correct its authors, title, abstract, bibliographic or download information, contact: plosone (email available below). General contact details of provider: https://journals.plos.org/plosone/ .

    Please note that corrections may take a couple of weeks to filter through the various RePEc services.

    IDEAS is a RePEc service. RePEc uses bibliographic data supplied by the respective publishers.