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Contraceptive risk-taking in a population with limited access to abortion

Published online by Cambridge University Press:  31 July 2008

Diane R. Horowitz  and
Frank W. Oechsli
Diane R. Horowitz
Affiliation:
Child Health and Development Studies, School of Public Health, University of California, Berkeley, California, USA
Frank W. Oechsli
Affiliation:
Child Health and Development Studies, School of Public Health, University of California, Berkeley, California, USA
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Summary

At a time when abortion was not readily available, among married women over half of unintended pregnancies occurred with no use or discontinued use of contraception. Many of these contraceptive drifters had prior experience with effective contraception. Contraceptive drifting was more common for low parity births. Different characteristics differentiated drifters from contraception failures in low- (1–2) and high- (3+) parity women. Among low-parity women, more drifting was found where the husband was enthusiastic about having the child, the woman's education or occupation was low, the husband's occupation was craftsman or operative, his education was low or his income was high. Among high-parity women, drifting was more common for white mothers, those with a previous marriage or a child by another father, or for mothers or fathers with low education. Policy implications of these findings are discussed.

Type
Research Article
Information
Journal of Biosocial Science , Volume 12 , Issue 4 , October 1980 , pp. 373 - 382
Copyright
Copyright © 1980, Cambridge University Press

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