Unintended Pregnancy
Unintended pregnancies are pregnancies that were unwanted at the time of conception. These are sometimes divided into unwanted pregnancies and those that are mistimed. Worldwide, 38% of pregnancies were unintended in 1999 (some 80 million unintended pregnancies in 1999). Unintended pregnancies are the primary cause of induced abortion, resulting in about 42 million induced abortions. Unintended pregnancy is linked to numerous maternal and child health problems.
The use of modern contraceptive methods has greatly reduced the incidence of unintended pregnancy, particularly in more developed countries. However the United States has an unusually high rate of unintended pregnancy, especially among the lower classes.
Read more about Unintended Pregnancy: Causes, Results, Prevention, Epidemiology, History, In Society and Culture, See Also, Additional Reading
Famous quotes containing the words unintended and/or pregnancy:
“I thank heaven that the 4th. of July is over. It is always a day of great fatigue to me, and of some embarrassments from improper intrusions and some from unintended exclusions.”
—Thomas Jefferson (1743–1826)
“Back in the days when men were hunters and chestbeaters and women spent their whole lives worrying about pregnancy or dying in childbirth, they often had to be taken against their will. Men complained that women were cold, unresponsive, frigid.... They wanted their women wanton. They wanted their women wild. Now women were finally learning to be wanton and wild—and what happened? The men wilted.”
—Erica Jong (b. 1942)