Retrospective Reports of Pregnancy Wantedness and Child Well-Being in the United States (original) (raw)
Related papers
Pregnancy Wantedness and Adverse Pregnancy Outcomes: Differences by Race and Medicaid Status
Family Planning Perspectives, 1997
even when the effects of socioeconomic and behavioral factors-such as income, education, adequacy of prenatal care and harmful habits-are taken into account. In addition, despite the wide selection of safe and effective contraceptive methods and extensive dissemination of contraceptive information, unwanted pregnancy remains an important U. S. public health problem. More than half of the six million pregnancies occurring in 1988 in the United States were unplanned; 1.6 million of these pregnancies ended in an abortion and 1.5 million were carried to term. 6 Among live births in 1988, 28% were mistimed and 12% were unwanted at the time of conception. Unintended pregnancies account for a substantial proportion of all births, and are particularly common among young, unmarried women. Data from the 1988 National Survey of Family Growth (NSFG) revealed that between 1983 and 1988, 87% of births to 15-19-year-old never-married women and 69% of births to 20-24-yearold never-married women were unwanted or mistimed. 8 The possible negative effect on birth outcomes of unintended pregnancy is of special concern in regard to young, unmarried, low-income women, who are at greater risk of low birth weight than other women. 9 W hile there have been notable improvements in U. S. infant mortality and morbidity rates over the past decade, the United States still lags behind most other industrialized countries, having much higher levels of infant mortality. 1 Rates of low birth weight, which had been stable, have increased over the last decade, 2 and large racial disparities persist: Black women have twice the risk of delivering a low-birth-weight infant as white women have, and black infants are twice as likely as white infants to die before their first birthday. 3 Further, disorders related to short gestation and low birth weight represent the leading cause of death among black infants, 4 and are the third leading cause of infant mortality overall. These racial disparities persist Research has indicated that ambivalence toward pregnancy is a barrier to early and continuous prenatal care. Women with a mistimed or unwanted pregnancy are less likely than those with a wanted pregnancy to initiate early prenatal care and to make an adequate number of visits. 10 However, until recently, the relationship between pregnancy wantedness and adverse pregnancy outcome has received little attention; increasingly, though, public health officials are examining the impact of unintended childbearing on the incidence of low birth weight and infant mortality. One recent study found that women who indicated in an early prenatal visit that their pregnancy was unwanted or mistimed were more than twice as likely as other women to deliver an infant who died within 28 days of birth. In this article, we examine the relationship between adverse pregnancy outcomes and variables measuring unintended (mistimed and unwanted) pregnancy. We hypothesized that women who delivered low-birth-weight infants would have reported higher levels of unintended pregnancy than women who delivered normalweight infants. . (A detailed description of the study methodology has appeared elsewhere. 12 ) All multiple pregnancies were excluded to make the analysis more straightforward. Among singleton births, moderately low birth weight infants (those weighing 1,500-2,499 g) and infants of normal birth weight (those weighing 2,500 g or more) served as controls. Stillbirths (fetal deaths at 20 or more weeks' gestation) were also included in the data.
Pregnancy Wantedness and the Early Initiation of Prenatal Care
Demography, 1990
The study examines the impact of the wantedness of a pregnancy on the demand for early prenatal care. Using a cohort of pregnant women in New YorkCity, we estimate a prenatal care demand function in which we control for the probability of giving birth, given a woman is pregnant. We interpret this control as a measure of wantedness, The results indicate that if the black and Hispanic women who aborted had instead given birth, they would have delayed the initiation of prenatal care, on average, more than three-quarters of a month longer than the mean number of months of delay that were actually observed for the women who gave birth. Byallowing women to terminate an unwanted pregnancy, induced abortion increases the average use of prenatal care among black and Hispanic women relative to what would have been observed if the women who aborted had instead given birth.
The study examines the impact of the wantedness of a pregnancy on the demand for early prenatal care. Past attempts to address this question have depended on the self-assessments of women as to the wantedness of their pregnancy and birth. Our approach can be described as a form of revealed preference in which only those pregnancies that are voluntarily terminated by induced abortion are considered to be unwanted. Using a cohort of pregnant women in New York City, we estimate a prenatal care demand function in which we control for the probability of giving birth, given a woman is pregnant. We interpret this control as a measure of wantedness. The results indicate that if the black and Hispanic women who aborted, had instead given birth, they would have delayed the initiation of prenatal care, on average, over three-quarters of a month longer than the mean number of months of delay that were actually observed for the women who gave birth. By allowing women to terminate an unwanted pregnancy, induced abortion increases the average utilization of prenatal care among black and Hispanic women relative to what would have been observed if the women who aborted had instead given birth.
Journal of Family Psychology, 2015
Prenatal psychological adjustment is a critical predictor of postnatal maternal adjustment, which, in turn, relates to a child's psychological development. As such, it is important to examine possible correlates of women's psychological functioning during pregnancy. Grounded in self-determination theory (Deci & Ryan, 2000), the present research investigated the link between women's motives for having a child and prenatal maternal psychological adjustment. Specifically, in a sample of 208 pregnant women, we examined the relation between women's intensity (i.e., quantity) and quality of motivation for having a child and both women's social adjustment (i.e., relationship satisfaction) and personal well-being (i.e., vitality and depressive symptoms). Further, we examined psychological need satisfaction as an explanatory mechanism underlying these associations. Results showed that both intensity and quality of motivation related, either directly or indirectly via psychological need satisfaction, to women's personal well-being and relationship satisfaction during pregnancy.
Pregnancy Wantedness And Maternal Behavior During Pregnancy
Demography, 1987
Demographicresearchers are increasingly interested in issues pertaining to infant health and pregnancy outcome. Important here are not only studies of how specific variables affect a given health outcome (eg, how maternal smoking or prenatal care affects low birth weight and ...
2022
Background. Although maternal mental illnesses have been found to influence child health and development, little is known about the impact of maternal positive well-being on child health and development. Therefore, this longitudinal study investigated the effects of prenatal subjective well-being on birth outcomes and child development by considering the potential modifier effect of parity. Methods. Pregnant women in early stages of pregnancy were recruited at five selected hospitals in Taipei, Taiwan, during their prenatal appointments since 2011. Self-reported evaluations were conducted at seven time points up to 2 years postpartum. Linear regression and generalized estimating equation models were used for examination. Results. Higher prenatal eudaimonic well-being was associated with longer gestational length (adjusted beta [aβ] = 0.36, 95% confidence interval [CI] = 0.03, 0.68) and higher birth weight (aβ = 124.71, 95% CI = 35.75, 213.66). Higher positive and negative affect were associated with longer gestational length (aβ = 0.38, 95% CI = 0.06, 0.70) and smaller birth weight (aβ = À93.51, 95% CI = À178.35, À8.67), respectively. For child's outcomes, we found an association between higher prenatal eudaimonic well-being and decreased risks of suspected developmental delay, particularly for children of multiparous mothers (adjusted odds ratio = 0.18, 95% CI = 0.05, 0.70). Higher levels of prenatal depression and anxiety were significantly associated with increased risks of suspected developmental delay for children of primiparous mothers. Conclusions. Positive prenatal maternal mental health may benefit birth outcomes and child development, particularly for children of multiparous mothers. Interventions for improving prenatal mental health may be beneficial for child development.
Maternal and Child Health Journal, 2020
Objectives This study examined maternal pregnancy wantedness and perceptions of paternal wantedness, and their associations with maternal perinatal mental health symptoms and relationship dynamics. Methods Low-income, ethnically-diverse pregnant women (N = 101, M age = 29.10 years, SD age = 6.56, range age = 18-44; 37% Latina, 22% African-American, 20% White, 21% biracial/multiracial/other) completed semi-structured interviews of pregnancy wantedness coded by trained raters, and standardized instruments of depression and PTSD symptoms during pregnancy and at 3-4-months postpartum. Results While maternal pregnancy wantedness (rated from 0-Predominately Ambivalent, 1-Mixed, and 2-Predominately Positive) showed no significant associations, a couple-level scale that combined maternal wantedness and her perceptions of paternal wantedness (Equally Positive Wantedness, Mom Wants More, Dad Wants More and Equally Ambivalent) showed several significant associations. Compared to women in the Equally Positive group, women in the Mom Wants More group had significantly higher prenatal and postnatal depression symptoms, prenatal PTSD symptoms, and prenatal and postnatal relationship conflict; and lower prenatal and postnatal relationship support. Women in the Mom Wants More group also had significantly higher prenatal and postnatal depression symptoms and prenatal conflict; and lower prenatal support than women in the Dad Wants More group. Conclusions for Practice Women who perceive themselves as wanting the pregnancy more than their baby's father are at higher risk for mental health and relationship problems than women who perceive themselves and their partners as equally ambivalent. Providers should ask women about their perceptions of partners' pregnancy wantedness to inform delivery of targeted mental health and relationship-based intervention during pregnancy.
Childbearing postponement and child well-being: a complex and varied relationship?
Demography, 2014
Over the past several decades, U.S. fertility has followed a trend toward the postponement of motherhood. The socioeconomic causes and consequences of this trend have been the focus of attention in the demographic literature. Given the socioeconomic advantages of those who postpone having children, some authors have argued that the disadvantage experienced by certain groups would be reduced if they postponed their births. The weathering hypothesis literature, by integrating a biosocial perspective, complicates this argument and posits that the costs and benefits of postponement may vary systematically across population subgroups. In particular, the literature on the weathering hypothesis argues that, as a consequence of their unique experiences of racism and disadvantage, African American women may experience a more rapid deterioration of their health which could offset or eventually reverse any socioeconomic benefit of postponement. But because very few African American women postp...
The Longitudinal Effects of Unintended Pregnancy on Maternal Mental Health and Parenting Behaviors
2018
The Longitudinal Effects of Unintended Pregnancy on Maternal Mental Health and Parenting Behaviors Marisa R. Morin This dissertation examines associations between unintended pregnancy and future maternal mental health and parenting behaviors. Put simply, I examine whether a mother who self-reports her pregnancy as being unintended at her child’s birth will have longstanding differences in mental health and parenting behaviors as her child ages. Drawing on two separate sources of data, I examine these associations taking into account three different ways of measuring unintended pregnancy. Drawing on the Fragile Families and Child Wellbeing Study (FFCWS), unintended pregnancy is measured as such when mothers report, “yes,” to a question asking them whether they considered an abortion prior to their child’s birth. In many respects, consideration of an abortion is the most definitive measure of unintended pregnancy, since it could result in termination of the pregnancy altogether; yet, ...
Indian Journal of Psychiatric Nursing , 2022
Well-being is a complex construct on the optimal functioning in one's life. Well-being is basically having two perspectives: hedonic approach (i.e., pain avoidance and pleasure attainment) and eudaimonic approach (i.e., living up to one's fullest potential). Over the years, researchers have explored various stages of one's life based on these approaches. Pregnancy is an important milestone of women's life. Pregnancy is a period of hope and growth. This concept paper has been drafted with the aim of having an understanding regarding well-being and its short-term as well as long-term impact on pregnant women and their unborn children. The objectives of the study were to get an overview on well-being and to understand its effect on pregnant women as well as their fetuses. The electronic literature search engines used were Google Scholar and PubMed for selecting papers related to the theme well-being and pregnancy. Again, these selected articles were further screened for more relevant literature. For the present paper, a total of 35 articles were reviewed which were published online. Assessment of well-being during pregnancy helps in the assurance of better future for both the mother and the child. In this paper, the researcher has looked into a comprehensive view of well-being, and this has an influence on the pregnant women. This understanding will help in the promotion of well-being and maternal health, which in turn will have a positive effect on the baby.