Young adult US-born Latina women’s thoughts, feelings and beliefs about unintended pregnancy

Abstract

Current measures of unintended pregnancy underestimate the co-occurring, complex set of social, cultural, economic and structural factors that influence how women interpret unintended pregnancy. The purpose of this study was to prospectively explore young adult US-born Latinas' thoughts, feelings and beliefs about pregnancy, specifically unintended pregnancies and the sociocultural factors identified as contributors to those beliefs. In-depth interviews (n=20) were conducted with US born, English-speaking Latinas aged 18-25 years in south Florida. Seventeen participants did not intend to get pregnant, while the remaining participants (n=3) reported that their intentions kept changing. Participants' beliefs regarding their unintended pregnancy were influenced by social and economic hardship and cultural factors such as fatalism and familismo.Ideas and the meaning of pregnancy differed based on the woman's pregnancy resolution decision. Many women felt the term 'unintended pregnancy' placed blame on women and was stigmatising. When discussing pregnancy planning, most participants felt that women should not plan their pregnancies and doing so was going against fate. Findings suggest that salient influences such as culture and the social determinants related to unintended pregnancy should be incorporated into measurements examining unintended pregnancy.

Critiquing the Unintended Pregnancy Framework

“…Research suggests that for many individuals, particularly people of color and people with low incomes, these socially normative expectations for pregnancy timing are perceived as unattainable; therefore, planning for pregnancy may be considered irrelevant 17 . For example, a study of US‐born Latina women reported that the notion of planning a pregnancy is unrealistic, as there is no ideal time to have a child 18 . Thus, evidence suggests the constructs of pregnancy planning and intendedness may be immaterial to the lived experiences of many.…”

The role of legal status and uncertainty in the reproductive aspirations of 1.5 and second generation Mexican-origin immigrant young women: An exploratory study

“… Coleman-Minahan and Samari (2020) found one component of a “good” father-daughter relationship was that fathers used their migration-related sacrifices to push their daughters to succeed in school, which in turn was associated with delayed sexual activity. And similar to Hernandez et al. (2020) , anticipated parental reactions to a pregnancy shaped several of our participants’ feelings about a hypothetical pregnancy.…”

“…These studies do not examine immigration policy or uncertainty, which is found within the social context in which events occur, not in the event itself ( Johnson‐Hanks, 2002 ). Even the limited studies on pregnancy intentions among Latinas rely on cultural norms or social disadvantage as explanatory variables, rather than immigration policy ( Aiken et al., 2015 ; Hernandez et al., 2020 ). Exploring reproductive aspirations allows us to describe how legal status and uncertainty constrain people's hopes and dreams, which are essential to reproductive justice and self-determination.…”

Reproductive Coercion and Intimate Partner Violence Victimization Among a Racially and Ethnically Diverse Young Adult Sample

“…Research in this area may also benefit from examining cultural and societal expectations for reproduction, as these may also shape experiences with reproductive coercion. Sociocultural variables, such as beliefs about contraception and unintended pregnancy, may worsen adverse health outcomes related to reproductive coercion and ultimately limit the reproductive autonomy of people who can become pregnant (Hernandez et al, 2020). Research that addresses social and cultural norms surrounding reproductive coercion is needed in order to fully understand racial/ethnic disparities that have been documented by this study and others.…”