Prevalence and predictors of unintended pregnancy among women: An analysis of the Canadian Maternity Experiences Survey

Abstract

Background
Unintended pregnancies (mistimed or unwanted during the time of conception) can result in adverse outcomes both to the mother and to her newborn. Further research on identifying the characteristics of unintended pregnant women who are at risk is warranted. The present study aims to examine the prevalence and predictors of unintended pregnancy among Canadian women.

Methods
The analysis was based on the 2006 Maternity Experiences Survey targeting women who were at least 15 years of age and who had a singleton live birth, between February 15, 2006 to May 15, 2006 in the Canadian provinces and November 1, 2005 to February 1, 2006 for women in the Canadian territories. The primary outcome was the mother’s pregnancy intention, where unintended pregnancy was defined as women who wanted to become pregnant later or not at all. Sociodemographic, maternal and pregnancy related variables were considered for a multivariable logistic regression.

Results
Adjusted Odds Ratios (OR) and 95 % Confidence Intervals (95 % CI) were reported. Overall, the prevalence of unintended pregnancy among Canadian women was 27 %. The odds of experiencing an unintended pregnancy were statistically significantly increased if the mother was: under 20 years of age, immigrated to Canada, had an equivalent of a high school education or less, no partner, experienced violence or abuse and had 1 or more previous pregnancies. Additionally, mothers who reported smoking, drinking alcohol and using drugs prior to becoming pregnant, were all associated with an increased likelihood of experiencing an unintended pregnancy.

Conclusion
The study findings constitute the basis for future research into these associations to aid in developing effective policy changes and interventions to minimize the odds of experiencing an unintended pregnancy and its associated consequences.

Full text

R E S E A R C H A R T I C L E Open Access
Prevalence and predictors of unintended
pregnancy among women: an analysis of
the Canadian Maternity Experiences Survey
Elizaveta Oulman
1
, Theresa H. M. Kim
1*
, Khalid Yunis
2
and Hala Tamim
1
Abstract
Background: Unintended pregnancies (mistimed or unwanted during the time of conception) can result in
adverse outcomes both to the mother and to her newborn. Further research on identifying the characteristics of
unintended pregnant women who are at risk is warranted. The present study aims to examine the prevalence and
predictors of unintended pregnancy among Canadian women.
Methods: The analysis was based on the 2006 Maternity Experiences Survey targeting women who were at least
15 years of age and who had a singleton live birth, between February 15, 2006 to May 15, 2006 in the Canadian
provinces and November 1, 2005 to February 1, 2006 for women in the Canadian territories. The primary outcome
was the mother’s pregnancy intention, where unintended pregnancy was defined as women who wanted to
become pregnant later or not at all. Sociodemographic, maternal and pregnancy related variables were considered
for a multivariable logistic regression.
Results: Adjusted Odds Ratios (OR) and 95 % Confidence Intervals (95 % CI) were reported. Overall, the prevalence
of unintended pregnancy among Canadian women was 27 %. The odds of experiencing an unintended pregnancy
were statistically significantly increased if the mother was: under 20 years of age, immigrated to Canada, had an
equivalent of a high school education or less, no partner, experienced violence or abuse and had 1 or more
previous pregnancies. Additionally, mothers who reported smoking, drinking alcohol and using drugs prior to
becoming pregnant, were all associated with an increased likelihood of experiencing an unintended pregnancy.
Conclusion: The study findings constitute the basis for future research into these associations to aid in developing
effective policy changes and interventions to minimize the odds of experiencing an unintended pregnancy and its
associated consequences.
Keywords: Unintended pregnancy, Conception, Maternal health
Background
Unintended pregnancy is classified as pregnancies that
are either mistimed or unwanted during the time of con-
ception and can result in adverse outcomes both to the
mother and to her newborn [1]. Based on these risks,
women of childbearing age are recommended to practice
preconception care in the form of adopting specific
health-related behaviours [2]. However, many women
with unintended pregnancies delay their prenatal care
and engage in adverse health behaviours through the
first trimester of their pregnancy [3–5]. For example,
mothers with unintended pregnancies are more than
twice as likely to report an inadequate consumption of
folic acid prior to their pregnancy [3], putting their new-
born at risk of developing neural tube defects [6, 7].
Studies have also shown that women with unintended
pregnancies report a greater risk to alcohol exposure
during the first trimester [5], exposing their newborns to
elevated risks of developing abnormal fetal growth and
morphogenesis [8]. Unintended pregnancies are adverse
to the health of the mother as they put the mother at
* Correspondence: kimthere@yorku.ca
1
School of Kinesiology and Health Science, York University, 4700 Keele Street,
Toronto, Ontario M3J 1P3, Canada
Full list of author information is available at the end of the article
© 2015 Oulman et al. Open Access This article is distributed under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution 4.0
International License (http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/), which permits unrestricted use, distribution, and
reproduction in any medium, provided you give appropriate credit to the original author(s) and the source, provide a link to
the Creative Commons license, and indicate if changes were made. The Creative Commons Public Domain Dedication waiver
(http://creativecommons.org/publicdomain/zero/1.0/) applies to the data made available in this article, unless otherwise stated.
Oulman et al. BMC Pregnancy and Childbirth (2015) 15:260
DOI 10.1186/s12884-015-0663-4
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risk of developing mental health problems (i.e. depres-
sion) post partum [9, 10].
Knowledge on the dangers associated with unintended
pregnancy is extensive, however more research is re-
quired on analyzing the characteristics of women who
are at risk. Most of the research on the prevalence of un-
intended pregnancies is based on data from the United
States. Studies report that the prevalence of unintended
pregnancies ranges from one third upwards to one half
of all births [3, 11, 12]. Research has found that the
prevalence of unintended pregnancies was more than
50 % in women who were in age groups up to 24 years,
living below the poverty line and/or had an education of
less than 12 years [13]. Similarly, another study reports
that the highest rates of unintended pregnancy tend to
be among poorer women and those without a high
school diploma [14]. Unfortunately, current data pertain-
ing to unintended pregnancies among Canadian women
is limited. The most recent crude estimate based on the
2006 Maternity Experiences Survey reports that approxi-
mately 27 % of Canadian mothers perceived their preg-
nancy to be as unintended, meaning that they would
have preferred the pregnancy later or not at all [15].
Although the prevalence and dangers associated with
unintended pregnancy has been examined in an array of
studies [3–10, 13, 14] there is limited research among
Canadian women. A nationwide study is needed in order
to identify the characteristics and risk factors of Canadian
women who experience an unintended pregnancy.
Through the acquisition of this information, public health
organizations will be better equipped at targeting inter-
ventions aimed at preventing unintended pregnancies
among Canadian women and reducing the health risk for
the mother and her newborn. Given the knowledge on the
risks associated with unintended pregnancy and the scar-
city of Canadian studies exploring unintended pregnancy,
the present study aims at examining the factors associated
with unintended pregnancy among Canadian women.
Methods
Study design
The current study was a cross-sectional design as the
analysis was based on secondary data analysis. The data-
base analyzed was the Maternity Experiences Survey.
Database
This study is based on the secondary analysis of the
2006 Maternity Experiences Survey (MES), sponsored by
the Canadian Perinatal Surveillance System of the Public
Health Agency of Canada and conducted by Statistics
Canada. The MES is the first and only Canadian survey
devoted to pregnancy, labour, birth, and postpartum ex-
periences; it has not been administered since 2006. The
target population was selected from the 2006 Canadian
Census of Population. This includes women who were at
least 15 years of age at the time of birth, who had a
singleton live birth in Canada and lived with their in-
fants at the time of the survey. The birth cohort was se-
lected from February 15, 2006 to May 15, 2006 for
women living in the provinces and November 1, 2005 to
February 1, 2006 for women living in the territories.
Women excluded from the survey population included
those who were under 15 years of age at the time of
birth and mothers who lived in First Nations reserves or
institutions during the time of the survey. Based on the
above criteria, a total of 8542 women were eligible to
participate in the survey, out of which 6421 women
responded to the survey (response rate of 75.2 %). Data
collection was obtained primarily through 45-min
computer-assisted telephone interviews (except in the
territories where in-person interviews were also utilized).
Interviewers were trained on the purpose of the study
and protocol for questionnaire administration. Inter-
views were conducted 5 to 10 months post-partum for
women living in the provinces and 9 to 14 months post-
partum for women living in the territories. The MES
database has been presented to Health Canada’s Science
Advisory Board, Health Canada’s Research Ethics Board
and the Federal Privacy Commissioner and was ap-
proved by Statistics Canada’s Policy Committee [16].
Ethics approval was not necessary to obtain as this was
based on secondary analysis of the MES collected by
Statistics Canada. Access to the MES database was
granted through the Research Data Centre in Toronto
via an application submitted to the Social Sciences and
Humanities Council of Canada. The design and methods
of the MES has been previously described in other refer-
ences [16].
Outcome variable
The primary outcome of this study was the mother’spreg-
nancy intention. This variable was based on the question
“Thinking back to just before you became pregnant, would
you say that you wanted to be pregnant…?”.Responsecat-
egories in the MES included the four categories: 1) sooner,
2) then, 3) later and 4) not at all. For the purposes of this
study, pregnancy intention was assessed as a dichotomous
variable where women who reported wanting to become
pregnant “sooner/then”were coded as having an intended
pregnancy and women wanting to become pregnant
“later/not at all”were coded as having an unintended
pregnancy.
Independent variables
The potential predictors for unintended pregnancy in-
cluded: 1) socio-demographic factors: age, place of resi-
dence (urban versus rural), immigration to Canada,
aboriginal status and mother’s level of education; 2)
Oulman et al. BMC Pregnancy and Childbirth (2015) 15:260 Page 2 of 8
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maternal health characteristics: mother’s perceived health,
previous depression diagnosis, pre-pregnancy body mass
index (BMI), presence of partner or significant other and
experience with violence over the last two years; and 3)
pregnancy-related characteristics: number of past preg-
nancies, cigarette smoking before pregnancy, alcohol use
before pregnancy and drug use before pregnancy. All of
these variables, except experience with violence, were
assessed using specific questions. Experience with violence
was assessed over a set of ten questions about the
mother’s experience with physical or sexual violence. A re-
sponse of yes to any of the questions by the women was
coded as having experienced violence or abuse.
Statistical analysis
The prevalence of unintended pregnancy was estimated
through survey weights created by Statistics Canada and
provided with the MES data set. Differences in the predic-
tors of unintended pregnancy were assessed at the bivari-
ate level using normalized weights. Chi square tests were
used to assess the association between the different levels
of predictors and unintended pregnancy. Odds ratio (OR)
with 95 % confidence intervals (95 % CI) were performed
for all variables. To account for complex sampling design,
bootstrapping was performed where appropriate to calcu-
late all standard errors, the OR and 95 % CI estimates.
The sample sizes reported in this manuscript were derived
from normalized weights, weighted to represent a larger
population. All analyses were computed with Stata Data
Analysis and Statistical Software (version 13.0), and set at
alpha <0.05 for two-tailed test for statistical significance.
Results
The sample size for the population analyzed in this study
was 6421, weighted to represent 76,508 Canadian women.
Out of 6421 women, a total of 6368 responded to the out-
come variable “intended pregnancy”and were included in
the analysis. As illustrated in Fig. 1, the prevalence of un-
intended pregnancy varied significantly (p< 0.05) across
regions in Canada. Women in Eastern-Atlantic, Western-
Prairie and the Northern Territories had the highest
prevalence rates of unintended pregnancy; 33.3, 28.7 and
33.6 %, respectively. Women in the Eastern-Central prov-
inces and Western-British Columbia reported prevalence
rates of 26.1 and 25.8 %, respectively. These prevalence
rates are below the reported Canadian prevalence of unin-
tended pregnancy.
Table 1 presents the unadjusted and adjusted associa-
tions between unintended pregnancy and potential
predictors. Analysis included a variety of maternal socio-
demographic predictors such as age, urban-rural resi-
dence, aboriginal status, immigration to Canada, level of
education and presence of a partner/ significant other.
All of these predictors, with the exception of aboriginal
status and residence in an urban-rural area were associ-
ated with unintended pregnancy in the adjusted model.
Fig. 1 Distribution of women’s reaction to unintended pregnancy, across provinces and territories in Canada‡, 2006-2007
Oulman et al. BMC Pregnancy and Childbirth (2015) 15:260 Page 3 of 8
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Table 1 Prevalence and predictors of unintended pregnancy based on a national survey of Canadian women (N=6,368)
Sample Size Unintended Pregnancy Unadjusted Odds Ratio Adjusted Odds Ratio
N
a
N (%) OR (95% CI)
b
OR (95% CI)
b
Age (years)
<20 187 72.6 7.44 (4.75, 11.65) 4.43 (2.59, 7.58)
20-29 2945 29.8 1.20 (0.84, 1.69) 1.19 (0.80, 1.76)
30-39 3018 21.7 0.78 (0.55, 1.11) 0.93 (0.63, 1.38)
≥40 185 25.9 1 1
Aboriginal Status
Aboriginal 264 46.1 2.41 (1.91, 3.04) 1.29 (0.96, 1.73)
Non-Aboriginal 6074 26.2 1 1
Urban–rural residence
Urban, population ≤499,999 2276 28.6 1.18 (1.00, 1.39) 1.14 (0.95, 1.37)
Urban, population ≥500,000 2780 26.2 1.05 (0.89, 1.23) 1.15 (0.96, 1.38)
Rural area 1090 25.3 1 1
Immigration to Canada
Yes 1397 27.7 1.04 (0.89, 1.21) 1.53 (1.27, 1.83)
No 4942 26.9 1 1
Level of education
High school or less 1316 41.3 3.18 (2.49, 4.07) 1.71 (1.28, 2.29)
Some postsecondary education 2748 26.7 1.65 (1.30, 2.09) 1.28 (0.99, 1.67)
Undergraduate education 1620 19.2 1.07 (0.83, 1.38) 1.05 (0.80, 1.37)
Graduate education 622 18.1 1 1
Partner/Significant other
No 525 61.5 5.06 (4.20, 6.11) 3.20 (2.57, 3.99)
Yes 5818 23.9 1 1
Moms perceived health
Poor/Fair 334 42.4 2.29 (1.80, 2.90) 1.57 (1.18, 2.09)
Good 1415 32.2 1.48 (1.29, 1.69) 1.23 (1.05, 1.45)
Excellent/very good 4615 24.4 1 1
Previous depression diagnosis
Yes 980 33.1 1.41 (1.21, 1.65) 1.15 (0.97, 1.37)
No 5367 26.0 1 1
Pre-Pregnancy BMI (kg/m
2
)
Underweight (<18.5) 380 33.9 1 1
Normal (≥18.5 & <25) 3700 25.8 0.68 (0.54, 0.86) 0.94 (0.72, 1.23)
Overweight (≥25 & <30) 1314 26.8 0.72 (0.55, 0.93) 0.98 (0.74, 1.32)
Obese (≥30) 850 29.7 0.83 (0.63, 1.08) 1.02 (0.75, 1.38)
Experienced violence within last 2 years
Yes 689 44.6 2.43 (2.07, 2.86) 1.34 (1.10, 1.63)
No 5644 24.9 1 1
Number of past pregnancies
1 or more 3453 27.6 1.06 (0.94, 1.19) 1.33 (1.16, 1.52)
None 2895 26.4 1 1
Cigarette smoking before pregnancy
Yes 1399 40.0 2.18 (1.92, 2.47) 1.34 (1.14, 1.57)
Oulman et al. BMC Pregnancy and Childbirth (2015) 15:260 Page 4 of 8
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Results demonstrate that women who were less than
20 years of age at the time of their pregnancy were more
likely to experience an unintended pregnancy, compared
to women who were 40 years of age and older (OR: 4.43;
95 % CI: 2.59, 7.58). In addition, women with an educa-
tion equivalent to a high school diploma or less were 1.71
times more likely experience an unintended pregnancy
compared to women who had graduate level education
(95 % CI: 1.28, 2.29). Immigration to Canada and absence
of a partner/ significant other were also found to be sig-
nificant socio-demographic predictors of unintended
pregnancy (OR = 1.53, 95 % CI: 1.27, 1.83; OR = 3.20, CI:
2.57, 3.99; respectively).
Maternal health characteristics considered in the ana-
lysis of this study included the mother’s perceived health,
previous depression diagnosis, pre-pregnancy body mass
index (BMI) and experience with violence within the last
two years (at the time of the survey). Following adjust-
ment, perceived health of the mother was observed as a
strong predictor as women who reported their health as
poor/fair or good had an increased likelihood of experi-
encing an unintended pregnancy compared to women
who reported their health as excellent (OR = 1.57, 95 %
CI: 1.18, 2.09; OR = 1.23, 95 % CI: 1.05, 1.45; respect-
ively). Experience with violence remained significantly
associated with unintended pregnancy through adjust-
ment (OR = 1.34, 95 % CI: 1.10, 1.63). Although both the
mother’s perceived health and experience with violence
remained significant through adjustment, the associa-
tions were weaker in the adjusted model. Prior to adjust-
ment, pre-pregnancy BMIs within the normal range
(OR = 0.68, 95 % CI: 0.54, 0.86) and overweight range
(OR = 0.72, 95 % CI: 0.55, 0.93) were found to have pro-
tective effects against unintended pregnancy when com-
pared to women who reported themselves as underweight
prior to pregnancy. However, this association lost its sig-
nificance following adjustment. Previous depression diag-
noses were not significantly associated with unintended
pregnancy in the adjusted model.
Pregnancy-related characteristics such as number of past
pregnancies, cigarette smoking, alcohol use and drug use
before pregnancy were all found to be significant predictors
of unintended pregnancy. Cigarette smoking and drug use
before pregnancy were found to be the strongest predictors
and remained significant through adjustment, although a
weaker association was observed (OR = 1.34, 95 % CI: 1.14,
1.57; OR = 1.37, 95 % CI: 1.05, 1.79; respectively). Alcohol
use before pregnancy was found to be a significant pre-
dictor after adjustment (OR = 1.17, 95 % CI: 1.01, 1.35).
Interestingly, women who experienced 1 or more previ-
ous pregnancies were more likely to experience an un-
intended pregnancy compared to women who had no
previous pregnancies in the adjusted model (OR = 1.33,
95 % CI: 1.16, 1.52).
Discussion
The present study aimed to examine the potential predic-
tors of unintended pregnancy among Canadian women.
Pregnancies that are mistimed or unwanted can lead to
adverse outcomes for both the mother and her newborn.
Identifying the risk factors associated with unintended
pregnancy can help with developing effective policy
changes and interventions to minimize the odds of experi-
encing an unintended pregnancy and its associated conse-
quences. The results of the present study indicate that the
odds of experiencing an unintended pregnancy were in-
creased if the mother was: under 20 years of age, immi-
grated to Canada, had an equivalent of a high school
education or less, no partner, experienced violence or
abuse and had one or more previous pregnancies. Add-
itionally, mothers who reported smoking, drinking alcohol
and using drugs prior to becoming pregnant, were all as-
sociated with an increased likelihood of experiencing an
unintended pregnancy. Overall, the prevalence of unin-
tended pregnancy across all Canadian provinces and terri-
tories was 27 %, with the highest prevalence in the
Northern Territories and Eastern-Atlantic provinces,
Newfoundland and Labrador.
The prevalence of unintended pregnancy in Canada is
low when compared to the United States, which has a
prevalence of approximately 51 % [12]. This difference can
be attributed differences in healthcare system structure
and population characteristics. With regard to maternal
socio-demographics, mothers age, level of education,
Table 1 Prevalence and predictors of unintended pregnancy based on a national survey of Canadian women (N=6,368) (Continued)
No 4956 23.4 1 1
Alcohol use before pregnancy
Yes 3964 27.5 1.06 (0.93, 1.20) 1.17 (1.01, 1.35)
No 2385 26.4 1 1
Drug use before pregnancy
Yes 426 47.3 2.61 (2.12, 3.21) 1.37 (1.05, 1.79)
No 5927 25.6 1 1
a
Sample size is estimated using normalized weights
b
OR and 95% CI were calculated using bootstrapping technique
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presence of a partner and immigration status were found
to be significant predictors of unintended pregnancy fol-
lowing the multivariable analysis. The findings in the
present study indicate that women who were less than
20 years of age at the time of their pregnancy were more
likely to experience their pregnancy as unintended, com-
pared to those who were over 40 years of age. These find-
ings are consistent with those in the existing literature
[17–19]. However, earlier research findings from the
United States has found the opposite, suggesting that
women who were over 35 years of age were more likely to
experience an unintended pregnancy as they may have
already had all the children they wanted to have [13]. The
findings from this study should be considered with cau-
tion, as this data is older than the literature previously
listed [17–19], suggesting that this data may be outdated.
In comparison to women with graduate level education,
women with an education level equivalent to a high school
diploma or less were found to be at a higher risk of report-
ing an unintended pregnancy, consistent with earlier re-
search [13, 14, 18, 20]. To support these findings, it has
been suggested that women with a high school education
(or less) may perceive a pregnancy as jeopardizing any po-
tential career plans or aspirations [13]. The findings from
the present study also demonstrate that women who do
not have a partner or significant other, were 3.20 (95 % CI:
2.57, 3.99) times more likely to experience an unintended
pregnancy compared to those who have a partner or sig-
nificant other. Although the presence of a partner or sig-
nificant other does not imply that the woman is married,
existing literature has shown that unmarried or single
women, compared to those who are married, were more
likely to experience an unintended pregnancy [19, 20]. Re-
sults also indicated that immigrant women were more
likely to experience an unintended pregnancy however, no
previous studies have examined the association of this
variable with unintended pregnancy. Women who are im-
migrants may lack the financial stability and social support
to have a newborn child. The significance of these findings
suggests that future research into this area should be
considered.
The present study found that experience with violence
within the last two years of the pregnancy and the
mothers perceived health were significant variables asso-
ciated with experiencing an unintended pregnancy.
These findings are consistent with previous research,
which indicates that women are more likely to perceive
their pregnancy as unintended if they have experienced
violence or abuse from their partner [21–23]. Experi-
ences with violence and/or abuse have been found to
foster environments of fear and a loss of control in
relationships, leading to perceptions of a new preg-
nancy as unintended [24]. The results also found that
women who reported their health as poor/fair or
good, compared with those who reported their health
as excellent, were more likely to experience an unin-
tended pregnancy. Support in the literature is sparse
however, one study has found that women with
poorer physical and mental health status were more
likely to experience an unintended pregnancy [25].
Childbearing can require a high level of physical and
emotional stability, thus mothers who perceive them-
selves as having poor health may be more likely to
report a new pregnancy as unintended.
At the multivariable level, all pregnancy related char-
acteristics were found to be significant predictors of un-
intended pregnancy. The results indicate that women
with previous pregnancies were more likely to report an
unintended pregnancy compared to those who are nul-
liparous. These findings are supported by the existing lit-
erature [13, 18–20]. Similar to women over 35 years of
age, it can be suggested that women who have had previ-
ous children may already have all of the children they
want, thus, reporting any new pregnancies as unin-
tended [13]. Additionally, engaging in behaviours such
as smoking, alcohol and drug use prior to pregnancy
were all associated with an increased odds of experien-
cing an unintended pregnancy, compared to women
who did not engage in these behaviours. There is con-
sistent literature highlighting the relationships between
smoking [3, 18, 26], alcohol [5, 26] and drug use [18, 26]
with unintended pregnancy. Considering the dangers as-
sociated with these behaviours and pregnancy [27],
women who engage in these behaviours prior to becom-
ing pregnant may not have any intentions of becoming
pregnant at the time or later, resulting in the experience
of a new pregnancy as unintended.
The results of the present study should be interpreted
with care as limitations are imposed. A major limitation
of the current study is that all data was collected
through self-report measures, increasing the possibility
of recall bias. Additionally, potential for misclassification
bias of the outcome “unintended pregnancy”exist due to
the framing of the question; as it implies either un-
planned pregnancy (i.e., related to timing issues) or un-
wanted pregnancy (i.e., not desired, related to the
situation or persons involved). The cross-sectional de-
sign of the current study is also limiting, as it does not
allow causality to be inferred. Although the MES data-
base was surveyed back in 2006, it is the first and only
Canadian survey devoted to pregnancy and maternal ex-
periences that is representative at the national level
across all provinces and territories, with a response rate
of 75.2 %. Furthermore, the present study considered a
variety of predictors across various domains, mitigating
the effects of any confounding factors. Despite the limi-
tations, this study serves as an important baseline that
could be used to compare to other countries and provide
Oulman et al. BMC Pregnancy and Childbirth (2015) 15:260 Page 6 of 8
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as a lead for future research considerations in the area of
unintended pregnancy.
Conclusion
The present study has identified an important public
health priority in the area of maternal health and preg-
nancy, as unintended pregnancy is associated with detri-
mental effects on both the mother and her newborn. In
Canada, approximately 27 % of all pregnancies are re-
ported as unintended by the mother, meaning that the
mother wanted to become pregnant later or not at all.
Results of the current study identified predictors of un-
intended pregnancy in Canadian women and provide the
basis for future research into these associations. Further-
more, our findings may benefit public health organiza-
tions in the area of unintended pregnancy as they can be
used as the basis for designing effective interventions to
decrease the risk of unintended pregnancy, specifically
focusing on mothers who are young, single and low
educated. Finally, educating mothers on the dangers
and risk factors associated with unintended pregnancy
is warranted.
Abbreviations
BMI: Body mass index; CI: Confidence interval; MES: Maternity experiences
survey; OR: Odds ratio.
Competing interests
The authors declare that they have no competing interests.
Authors’contributions
EO: Statistical analysis, literature review, and write-up of manuscript. THMK:
Statistical analysis, and critical revision for important intellectual content. KY:
Critical revision for important intellectual content. HT: Supervised analysis
and critical revision for important intellectual content. All authors read and
approved the final manuscript.
Authors’information
Not applicable.
Availability of data and materials
Not applicable.
Acknowledgements
Research and analysis are based on data from Statistics Canada. The opinions
expressed do not represent the views of Statistics Canada. We would like to
thank the Maternity Experiences Study Team of the Canadian Perinatal
Surveillance System, Public Health Agency of Canada, and the staff at the
York Region Statistics Canada Research Data Centre.
Funding
No funding was provided for the production of this manuscript.
Author details
1
School of Kinesiology and Health Science, York University, 4700 Keele Street,
Toronto, Ontario M3J 1P3, Canada.
2
Department of Pediatrics & Adolescent
Medicine, American University of Beirut Medical Centre, Beirut, Lebanon.
Received: 19 June 2015 Accepted: 18 September 2015
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