Abstract

Pregnancy intendedness by extent of disability among people who had recently given birth, 2019 – 2020

Abigail Newby-Kew, PhD¹, Jonathan Snowden, PhD¹, Ilhom Akobirshoev, PhD², Anne Valentine, MPH, PhD², Monika Mitra, PhD² and Willi Horner-Johnson, PhD³
(1)OHSU-PSU School of Public Health, Portland, OR, (2)Brandeis University, Waltham, MA, (3)Oregon Health & Science University, Portland, OR

APHA 2023 Annual Meeting and Expo

Background: Over 50% of pregnancies in the United States are unintended. Women with unintended pregnancies may be less likely to receive timely prenatal care and engage in healthy behaviors immediately before and during pregnancy. Limited research suggests that women with disabilities are more likely to have an unintended pregnancy, but to date no studies have assessed whether intendedness varies by extent of disability.

Methods: We analyzed 2019-2020 PRAMS data from 23 sites that included the Washington Group Short Set of Questions on Disability (n=37,832). We examined associations of extent of disability (none [reference group], some difficulty, or a lot of difficulty) with pregnancy intendedness (classified as intended [reference group], mistimed, unwanted, or unsure) using multinomial logistic regression to calculate adjusted odds ratios (aORs) and 95% confidence intervals (CIs) while controlling for sociodemographic characteristics.

Results: Overall, 60.1% of pregnancies were intended, 18.2% mistimed, 6.4% unwanted, and 15.3% unsure. Compared to respondents with no difficulty, respondents with some difficulty and a lot of difficulty were more likely to report a mistimed pregnancy (aOR=1.55, 95%CI 1.40,1.71; aOR=1.62, 95%CI 1.34,1.95), an unwanted pregnancy (aOR=1.92, 95%CI 1.66,2.24; aOR=2.20; 95%CI 1.72,2.82), and unsure intendedness (aOR=1.61, 95%CI 1.45,1.79; aOR=1.75, 95%CI 1.45,2.11), respectively.

Conclusions: Disabled women are more likely to report an unintended pregnancy, regardless of extent of disability. A better understanding of pregnancy intendedness in relation to disability will inform targeted intervention efforts to support healthy pregnancies and positive outcomes.

Epidemiology Public health or related research