[Unplanned pregnancy in Southern Brazil: prevalence and associated factors]

Silvio Omar Macedo Prietsch1, David Alejandro González-Chica, Juraci A Cesar

  • 1Faculdade de Medicina, Universidade Federal do Rio Grande, Brasil. silvio@brturbo.com.br

Cadernos De Saude Publica
|October 28, 2011
PubMed

The purpose of this study was to investigate factors associated with unplanned pregnancies in Rio Grande, Rio Grande do Sul State, Brazil. A standardized questionnaire was applied in 2007 to all pregnant women in the city, including demographic characteristics, childbearing history, socioeconomic status, and prenatal and childbirth care. The study used Poisson multivariate regression analysis with robust adjustment of variance. Among the 2,557 women included in the study, 65% had not planned the current pregnancy. After adjusting for confounders, the following variables were significantly associated with unplanned pregnancy: black or mixed race, age < 20 years, single marital status, low family income, household crowding, smoking, and multiparity. Previous abortion was a protective factor against unplanned pregnancy. The high unplanned pregnancy rate, especially among women with increased risk of complications during pregnancy and childbirth, highlights the need to target healthcare programs for this group.

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