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APHA Scientific Session and Event Listing

Recorded presentation

Marjorie R. Sable, DrPH, MSW, School of Social Work, University of Missouri-Columbia, 726 Clark Hall, Columbia, MO 65211, 573-882-0914, sablem@missouri.edu, Warren B. Miller, MD, Transnational Family Research Institute, 229 Wixon Avenue, Aptos, CA 95003-4626, and Annamaria Csizmadia, MS, Human Development and Family Studies, University of Missouri-Columbia, 314 Gentry Hall, Columbia, MO 65211.

Background: Pregnancy wantedness is a complex issue and has frequently been measured by the intention, or the timing, of a pregnancy. Few studies have examined the attitudes and feelings about a pregnancy, or the positive and negative motivating factors for pregnancy and childbearing. Furthermore, most research on the consequences of unintended pregnancy focuses on maternal risk behaviors related to perinatal outcomes. Less attention has been paid to the consequences of unintended pregnancy for children and relatively few studies have examined the association of these consequences with antecedent pregnancy attitudes and feelings. Methods: Stepwise linear regression analyses were conducted with 188 primiparous low-income, urban, African-American women who applied for Early Head Start. Pregnancy attitude was assessed at the end of pregnancy and was categorized by four components: wantedness (two items: happy to be pregnant and glad to be having a baby), positive childbearing motivation (PCM), negative childbearing motivation (NCM), and social reinforcement of pregnancy. The outcome variable, child attachment security, was assessed at approximately 12 months of age. Results: The four components were correlated: social reinforcement was positively associated with pregnancy wantedness and NCM was negatively associated with pregnancy wantedness. PCM and NCM were associated with child attachment security. Conclusions: This pilot study has implications for measuring pregnancy attitude; specifically that multiple measures are inconsistently correlated with one another and may provide different information about this complex attitude. Further, both PCM and NCM were associated with child attachment security, suggesting that parenting interventions with pregnant women may contribute to healthier outcomes.

Learning Objectives: At the conclusion of the session the participant will be able to

• Recognize the complexity of the definition of pregnancy wantedness and its components.
• Describe the inter-relationship of the components of pregnancy wantedness.
• Describe the relationship of the components of pregnancy wantedness with child attachment security.

Keywords: Pregnancy, Women's Health

Presenting author's disclosure statement:

Any relevant financial relationships? No

Recorded presentation