Determinants of unintended pregnancy among currently married women in Nepal

Ramesh Adhikari, Center for Research on Environment, Health and Population Activities (CREHPA)
Kusol Soonthorndhada, IPSR, Thailand
Pramote Prasartkul, Mahidol University

Nepal has one of the highest maternal and infant mortality rates in the world. One important factor contributing to high level of Maternal and infant mortality is unintended pregnancy. This study aims to determine the factors influencing unintended pregnancy among currently pregnant married women in Nepal. Unintended pregnancy is the dependent variable of the study. There are 14 independent and 2 intervening variables in the study. Univariate, bivariate and multivariate analyses were used to analyze the data. Logistic regression was used to assess the net effect of several variables on unintended pregnancy. Unintended pregnancy was also predicted by using some conceptually important significant variables. The results has revealed that several variable such as age of women, ideal number of children, age at first marriage, radio exposure, spousal communication, religion and family planning (FP) Knowledge were statistically significantly related to unintended pregnancy. The results of the study indicate that knowledge of FP and mass media (radio) exposure are the key indicators that affect pregnancy intention. Thus it can be suggested that providing more exposure on radio about FP messages, expansion of FP services, and creating awareness about marriage law is imperative to bring the changes in the situation of unintended pregnancy. In addition, the findings also showed that women's age at first marriage has significantly negative impact on unintended pregnancy. So programs should also focus to make 100 percent intended pregnancy a goal by focusing on all these identified issues so that abortion, infant and maternal morbidity and mortality will be decreased and the overall health of the family can be improved.