Abstract:
Unintended pregnancy is a potential hazard for every sexually active woman. It is a worldwide problem that affects women, their families, society and nation. In Ethiopia, the vast majority of unintended pregnancy, 95%, occurs among the women who do not practice contraception at all and the remaining 5% are attributable to failures of traditional methods. In Amhara region, the highest unintended birth rates in 2011 were found (34%). It is imperative that a persistent study must be conducted to elucidate some of the predictors that determine unintended pregnancy in order to reduce maternal morbidity and mortality related to unintended pregnancy.
Objective: To assess unintended pregnancy and its associated factors among pregnant women in Debar town administration, Northwest Ethiopia.
Methods: Community-based cross sectional study was conducted in Debark town administration, Northwest Ethiopia. A community-based cross sectional study design was conducted from March to April 2017. A total of 323 randomly selected pregnant women participated in the study. data on demographic and other risk factors of unintended pregnancy were collected using semi-structured questionnaire. The result was analyzed by using SPSS version 20. Logistic regressions employed to assess the relationship between dependent and independent variables. Level of significance determined at p-value <5%.
Results: Magnitude of unintended pregnancy was 27.2%. Predictor like age of the women 25-29 years and family size 1-2 were found to be positively associated with unintended pregnancy as evidenced by statistical result of [AOR=11.5, CL: 2.260, 58.725] and [AOR=7.841CI; 1.574,39.067]; respectively. On the other hand, media exposure (TV), and spousal communication on family planning [AOR=0.366, 95% CI: 0.162, 0.822], and [AOR=0.153, 95% CL: 0.062, 0.382] were found to be protective factors for unintended pregnancy.
Conclusion and recommendation: The magnitude of unintended pregnancy was relative high in this study so addressing the issue of unintended pregnancies by designing strategic plans, provide information and counseling about each contraceptive method in order to make informed choice and correct method use is important.