Unintended pregnancy in Egypt: evidence from the national study on women giving birth in 1999

Abstract

The current study aimed to estimate the prevalence and correlates of unintended pregnancy among ever-married women. The study sample was 2349 ever-married women aged 15-49 years who gave birth in 1999. Unintended pregnancy was defined as unwanted and mistimed pregnancies. Of these, 431 (18.5%) women reported unintended pregnancy: 137 were mistimed (5.9%) and 294 were unwanted (12.6%). Women of older age, living in frontier governorates, with poor knowledge of the ovulatory cycle, having a more than ideal family size, using contraceptive methods and having 4 or more children were at increased odds of reporting unintended pregnancies. Fewer antenatal care visits and low child weight at birth were significantly associated with unintended pregnancy.