Prevalence of unwanted pregnancy and its related factors in women referring to health centers in south of Tehran

Unwanted pregnancy as an effective factor on population explosion and maternal as well as child health is one of the major problems in developing countries. The population of many poor countries will double in less than 20 years because of different factors including unwanted pregnancy. This descriptive study was carried out to determine the prevalence of unwanted pregnancies and some of its related factors in women referring to the urban health centers in south of Tehran in 2006. 300 women took part in the study. Data were collected by a questionnaire completed by interviewing the subjects. Chi-square and T-test were used for data analysis. The proportion of unwanted pregnancy in the subjects was %31. A significant relationship was found between this type of pregnancy and their age (P=0.011), education (P=0.01), husbands’ age (P=0.017), husbands’ occupation (P=0.02), gravidity (P=0.00), parity (P=0.00), number of children (P=0.00), quality of prenatal visits (P=0.04), contraceptive method (P=0.043), simultaneous occurrence of pregnancy with contraception (P=0.00), oral contraceptives (P=0.024) and knowledge regarding the oral contraceptives (P=0.024). With respect to the results and high percentage of unwanted pregnancies, informing women regarding contraceptive methods and providing consultation about their correct use are necessary and recommended.