Date of Publication

2021

Faculty Mentor

Charles Mercier, MD

Abstract

Objectives:

a) To determine if pregnancy intention predicts postpartum contraception use among women with live births in Vermont.

b) To encourage the ongoing education of sexually active individuals in best practices to reduce unintended pregnancy.

Methods: A cross-sectional survey-based study was conducted using data from the 2016-2018 Vermont Pregnancy Risk Assessment Monitoring System (n=3753 women with a live birth), using frequency tables, crosstabulations, and simple logistic regression.

Results: Of 2,493 responses received for the 2016-18 PRAMS questionnaire, 67.5% indicated that their pregnancy had been intended, and 32.5% indicated that their pregnancy had not been intended or that they were not sure of their intention. Of these responses, 81.2% of women with an intended pregnancy and 85.5% of women with an unintended pregnancy reported using birth control postpartum. Women with intended pregnancies were 0.321 times less likely to use birth control postpartum than those with unintended pregnancies. Additionally, the use of permanent and long-acting methods of birth control was positively and statistically significantly associated with the group of women whose pregnancies had not been intended.

Conclusions & Policy Implications: Lower odds of postpartum contraceptive use among women with intended pregnancies raises concerns that women may not realize that they can become pregnant again soon after delivery. Additional metrics may help to better assess the family planning needs of Vermont women.

Document Type

Project

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