Unintended pregnancy: worldwide levels, trends, and outcomes.
Abstract
Unintended pregnancy can carry serious consequences for women and their families. We estimate the incidence of pregnancy by intention status and outcome at worldwide, regional, and subregional levels for 2008, and we assess recent trends since 1995. Numbers of births are based on United Nations estimates. Induced abortions are estimated by projecting from recent trends. A model-based approach is used to estimate miscarriages. The planning status of births is estimated using nationally representative and small-scale surveys of 80 countries. Of the 208 million pregnancies that occurred in 2008, we estimate that 41 percent were unintended. The unintended pregnancy rate fell by 29 percent in developed regions and by 20 percent in developing regions. The highest unintended pregnancy rates were found for Eastern and Middle Africa and the lowest for Southern and Western Europe and Eastern Asia. North America is the only region in which overall and unintended pregnancy rates have not declined. We conclude with a brief discussion of global and regional program and policy implications.
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Approximately 50% of pregnancies worldwide are unplanned.
“Approximately 50% of pregnancies worldwide are unplanned5; therefore, the question of the safety of GLP1-RA is particularly relevant.”
Cites
The Incidence of Induced Abortion in the Philippines: Current Level and Recent Trends
Juarez, F., Cabigon, J., Singh, S., & Hussain, R. (2005) · International Family Planning Perspectives · doi:10.1363/3114005 · Cited by 42 · see citing works
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Induced abortion: incidence and trends worldwide from 1995 to 2008
Sedgh, G., Singh, S., Shah, I. H., Åhman, E., Henshaw, S. K., & Bankole, A. (2012) · The Lancet · doi:10.1016/s0140-6736(11)61786-8 · Cited by 607 · see citing works
Self-citationAdolescence and the next generation
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Black, R. E., Levin, C., Walker, N., Chou, D., Liu, L., & Temmerman, M. (2016) · The Lancet · doi:10.1016/s0140-6736(16)00738-8 · Cited by 241 · see citing works
Charlton, R., Jordan, S., Pierini, A., Garne, E., Neville, A., Hansen, A., Gini, R., Thayer, D., Tingay, K., Puccini, A., et al. (2015) · BJOG: An International Journal of Obstetrics & Gynaecology · doi:10.1111/1471-0528.13143 · Cited by 121 · see citing works
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Do People Have Reproductive Goals? Constructive Preferences and the Discovery of Desired Family Size
Bhrolcháin, M. N., & Beaujouan, É. (2019) · The Springer Series on Demographic Methods and Population Analysis · doi:10.1007/978-3-319-93227-9_3 · Cited by 59 · see citing works
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“In addition, not all pregnancies are planned; it has been estimated that up to 41% of pregnancies worldwide are unintended [5].”
BackgroundDao, K., Shechtman, S., Weber-Schoendorfer, C., Diav-Citrin, O., Murad, R. H., Berlin, M., Hazan, A., Richardson, J. L., Eleftheriou, G., Rousson, V., et al. (2024) · BMJ Open · doi:10.1136/bmjopen-2023-083550 · Cited by 110 · see citing works
- Authors
- Singh, S., Sedgh, G., & Hussain, R.
- Affiliations
- Guttmacher Institute (US)
- Venue
- Studies in Family Planning
- Publisher
- Wiley
- Published
- 2010-12
- Volume
- 41
- Issue
- 4
- Pages
- 241-250
- ISSN
- 0039-3665 (ISSN-L)
- 1728-4465
- OpenAlex
- W1964884058
- Cited by
- 731
- References
- 1
- Citations by year
- 2026: 14 · 2025: 28 · 2024: 31 · 2023: 26 · 2022: 48 · 2021: 34 · 2020: 57 · 2019: 51 · 2018: 52 · 2017: 57 · 2016: 70 · 2015: 86 · 2014: 74 · 2013: 55 · 2012: 33
- FWCI
- 32.77
- Type
- journal article
- Language
- en
- Open access
- closed
- Locations
- Studies in Family Planning (publishedVersion)
- PubMed (publishedVersion)
- Topics
- Health Sciences › Medicine › Public Health, Environmental and Occupational Health › Reproductive Health and Contraception
- Social Sciences › Gender Studies › Demographic Trends and Gender Preferences
- Social Sciences › Political Science and International Relations › International Human Rights and Reproductive Law
- Keywords
- unintended pregnancy, abortion, miscarriage, family planning, fertility trends, global estimates, regional variation, family planning policy
- MeSH terms
- Abortion, Spontaneous, Abortion, Induced, Adolescent, Adult, Contraception, Developing Countries, Female, Humans, Pregnancy, Global Health, Incidence, Developed Countries, Pregnancy, Unplanned, Young Adult
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