Examining subjective well-being during pregnancy and its association with pregnancy intendedness among women in Nigeria: A population-based cross-sectional multilevel study

Abstract

In this study, we examined the patterns of subjective well-being (SWB) measures among pregnant women and quantified the extent to which pregnancy intendedness is associated with low SWB measures during pregnancy. We analyzed data from the 2021 Nigeria Multiple Indicator Cluster Survey comprising 3,491 pregnant women. The associations between pregnancy intention and low SWB measures (unhappiness, low life satisfaction [LS] and diminished optimism) were determined by fitting series of multilevel logistic regression models with random intercepts. Among pregnant women in our sample 20%, 37.5% and 9.6%, reported being unhappy, experiencing low LS and having diminished optimism, respectively. However, we found no significant association between pregnancy intention and being unhappy (mistimed: adjusted odds ratio [aOR] = 1.19, 95% CI = 0.88-1.60; unwanted: aOR = 1.16, 95% CI = 0.71-1.91), experiencing low LS (mistimed: aOR = 1.07, 95% CI = 0.83-1.37; unwanted: aOR = 1.06, 95% CI = 0.69-1.65) and having diminished optimism (mistimed: aOR = 1.22, 95% CI = 0.82-1.82; unwanted: aOR = 1.07, 95% CI = 0.56-2.04). Findings from the study suggest that pregnant women in Nigeria who reported having either a mistimed or unwanted pregnancy were just as likely to report being unhappy, experience low LS and have diminished optimism as women whose pregnancy was intended.

Keywords: happiness; life satisfaction; optimism; pregnancy intention; subjective well-being.

Figure 1.

Distribution of pregnancy intention across self-reported (a) happiness, (b) life satisfaction and (c) optimism scores. Note that for happiness, 1 indicates very happy and 5 indicates very unhappy. For life satisfaction, 0 indicates worst and 10 indicates best possible life. For optimism, 1 indicates better and 3 indicates worse.

Figure 2.

Prevalence of low SWB (weighted) according to pregnancy intention as a (a) two-category and (b) three-category variable among pregnant women 15–49 years. Error bars represent 95% confidence intervals.