New estimates of U.S. unintended pregnancy rates, 2006-08

Preventing unintended pregnancy is a personal goal for most couples, and reducing the unintended pregnancy rate is one of our most important national reproductive health goals. While there was a welcomed decrease in the U.S. unintended pregnancy rate between the late 1980s and mid-1990s, it stalled by 2001, the last year for which data are available. It is unclear if, or in what direction, unintended pregnancy rates have since changed. Additionally, recent increases in births and abortions among at least some population subgroups (e.g., teens) suggest investigation is needed. Updated unintended pregnancy rates for all women and by subgroup would be valuable information for public health officials and policy makers who monitor the national goal of reducing unintended pregnancy and track overall pregnancy rates and trends.

Using newly available pregnancy intendedness data from the National Survey of Family Growth (NSFG), we will report updated numbers and rates of unintended pregnancies nationally for 2006-08 for all women and sexually active women. In addition, rates will be presented for key demographic subgroups for 2006, including several for whom rates have not previously been published. Rates will be calculated using a methodology that accounts for known underreporting of abortions: Pregnancy intentions (from the NSFG) will be combined with total births (from NCHS vital statistics), induced abortions (from the NSFG and adjusted based on a national provider census and patient survey), fetal losses (from the NSFG and adjusted based on NCHS statistics), and population data (from the Census Bureau). Trends will also be presented.