Oral

This session explores pregnancy intentions and contraceptive use among diverse samples of young women in the US and Bangladesh. Defining pregnancy intentions is potentially hampered by a too-narrow view of intended or not. Researchers from the University of Illinois, Chicago report on the results of more nuanced categories of pregnancy intendedness, including “pregnancy seeking,” one of ambivalence, and several that fall under the rebric of “pregnancy avoidance.” Adequate birth spacing is important to ensure optimal maternal health. Results from an NICHD funded four site study will show the pregnancy intentions and predicted contraceptive use after the first birth, as well as the actual spacing of the births and differences by race/ethnicity and age in the outcomes. Researchers from the University of South Carolina expand the research on adolescents to include women in their 20s whose unintended pregnancy rates are on the rise. They present the results of analyses of the risk factors of pregnancy intendedness among a sample of college students in the US using the Spring 2006 National College Health Assessment. Finally, researchers from Save the Children, Bangladesh report on the assessment of a contraceptive education intervention aimed at increasing the contraceptive use for adolescents and thereby reducing unintended pregnancies in that group.

Session Objectives: 1. Describe the factors associated with an unintended pregnancy. 2. Identify the incidence of unintended pregnancies among diverse groups of women in the U.S. 3. Describe the nature and extent of racial/ethnic disparities related to planning/intention status of pregnancies in the U.S. 4. Identify new categories of pregnancy intention. 5. Identify the importance of contraception use by adolescents.

CE Credits: Medical (CME), Health Education (CHES), Nursing (CNE), Public Health (CPH)