The 130th Annual Meeting of APHA

Abstract #49936

Helen P. Koo, DrPH and Christina I. Fowler, PhD. Health, Social and Economics Research, RTI International, 3040 Cornwallis Rd., Research Triangle Park, NC 27709

This study examines the consistency between reproductive intentions (stated in one round of a survey) and subsequent reproductive behavior (measured 4 years later) among a sample of low-income, reproductive age women recruited from public family planning and postpartum clinics in two urban sites in Southeastern U.S. We examine the effects of key demographic and social characteristics (e.g., relationship status), and changes in those characteristics, on consistency of reproductive behavior with prior fertility intentions.

Studies have shown that women’s fertility plans are often not realized in terms of either the number or timing of children. In some cases, the inconsistency is due to changes in life circumstances, which alter fertility plans. In other cases, it results not from changes in plans but from unintended pregnancies.

This paper uses data from the second and third follow-up surveys of the Longitudinal Study of Contraceptive Choice and Use Dynamics. Women in the second follow-up interview (1996-97) were asked about their plans to have children, the planned timing of the next child, and their certainty about their plans. These women were re-interviewed on average 44 months later and detailed data were collected about their life and reproductive experiences in the intervening period. We use longitudinal analysis methods to examine the effects of sociodemographic and time-varying characteristics (e.g., relationships, educational attainment, household composition, traumatic life events) on the agreement or disagreement between prior fertility plans and subsequent reproductive behavior. Further, we investigate the degree to which disagreement is due to changed circumstances versus ineffective contraceptive practice.

Learning Objectives:

• Evaluate the relationship between stated reproductive intentions and behaviors.
• Identify the individual factors (demographic, social, and economic) that are associated with the inconsistency of stated intentions (e.g., desire for no more pregnancies or no pregnancy within a certain time frame) and behaviors (e.g., unplanned pregnancy).
• Foster an appreciation for the dynamic nature of fertility plans, the susceptibility of these plans to changing life circumstances, and the impact of these changes on one’s ability to practice effective contraception.

Keywords: Reproductive Planning, Health Behavior

Presenting author's disclosure statement:
I do not have any significant financial interest/arrangement or affiliation with any organization/institution whose products or services are being discussed in this session.