Socio-economic factors associated with unwanted births to married women: a geographical analysis using census indicators

Abstract

The proportion of unwanted births to married women who were delivered in a district maternity hospital during a 3-month period in 1971 was computed for each ward in the administrative area. The percentage varied from 5 to 20% with an average of 10%. These results were compared with the distributions of socio-economic variables derived from the 1971 Census. Parity was shown to be the most important indicator; Kendall's rank correlation coefficient was 0-56 (/ ) <0-01). When the effect of parity was eliminated by the use of Kendall's partial rank correlation coefficient, overcrowding and family structure were shown to be statistically significant (P < 0-05).

The mental health of women 6 months after they give birth to an unwanted baby: A longitudinal study

“…In a previous paper we estimated that about half the public hospital births in Brisbane were unplanned and about one-third were unwanted at the time of conception [3]. Other studies in Australia [4], New Zealand [5], the United States [6] and Britain [7,8] confirm that unplanned and/or unwanted conceptions comprise a substantial proportion of pregnancies which proceed, despite the ready availability of contraception and, in some instances, abortion services.…”

Social Class, Religion and Contraceptive Failure in a Sample of Pregnant Women in Brisbane

“…Unmarried women appear much more likely to report a birth as unwanted than are their married counterparts. [8][9][10] An inverse relationship between socioeconomic status and the wantedness of a birth is indicated by some reports, [11][12][13] but denied by others, 7,14 Still other studies suggest that socioeconomic differences in the success of a woman's pregnancy intent have diminished over time 14,15 as effective contraceptive technology has become more generally available. A woman's age, marital status, economic position and religious group membership are likely indicators of her knowledge, values, attitudes and both sexual activity and contraceptive practices.…”

Association of childhood mortality with housing status and unemployment.

“…This method has several advantages (Simon, 1974;Brennan and Hebel, 1975) and although the administrative areas did not present entirely homogeneous socioeconomic characteristics within each borough, there was sufficient variation between them to explore the socioeconomic mechanisms.…”