Children from unwanted pregnancies

Children from unwanted pregnancies

Z. MATĚJČEK ¹ , Z. DYTRYCH ¹ V. SCHÜLLER ¹

  ¹ Department of Pediatrics Thomayer Hospital Prague 4 Czechoslovakia Postgraduate Medical Institute

Correspondence to  Department of Pediatrics Thmayer Hospital Prague 4 Czechoslovakia Postgraduate Medical Institute

Copyright 1978 Blackwell Munksgaard

KEYWORDS

Unwanted pregnancy • induced abortion • child development • psychosocial development • child health • family relations • youth education

The health and development of 220 children born of unwanted pregnancies (UP) was investigated in a case-control study 9 years after their births. The analysis was based partly on data from health records and school reports, and partly on direct examination of the child and parents by a team of professionals using psychological tests, sociograms, rating scales, questionnaires, structured interviews and medical examinations.

Although differences between wanted and control children were not dramatic, they were consistent and multiple and tend to support the major hypothesis that the development of children born of unwanted pregnancies would be more problem prone. A child born from an unwanted pregnancy, especially a boy, is more likely to have deficiencies in psychosocial development and educational achievement than other children his own age, despite equivalent health status at birth.

The mothers of unwanted children, compared with mothers who accepted their pregnancy (AP children), despite having the same level of education and socioeconomic background, show less stability in their marital lives, poorer interaction with their husbands, a higher abortion rate before and after the birth of the unwanted child, less involvement in the upbringing of the child, and somewhat poorer interaction with their social environments. Nevertheless the majority of the mothers studied seem to have gradually changed from an originally strongly negative attitude toward the pregnancy to an accepting attitude toward the child.

A Maladaptation Score (MS) was developed as an overall measure of the social status of the child within the family and society. Differences between UP and AP children, which were not so definitive when viewed in terms of individual indicators, came into sharper focus when the cumulative effects of negative factors were noted. The MS findings confirmed more concretely that children born from unwanted pregnancies are more often in an unfavorable social situation and at greater future risk.

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Received July 7, 1977

The Best Intentions:

Unintended Pregnancy and the Well-Being of Children and Families


Description
Experts estimate that nearly 60 percent of all U.S. pregnancies--and 81 percent of pregnancies among adolescents--are unintended. Yet the topic of preventing these unintended pregnancies has long been treated gingerly because of personal sensitivities and public controversies, especially the angry debate over abortion. Additionally, child welfare advocates long have overlooked the connection between pregnancy planning and the improved well-being of families and communities that results when children are wanted.
Now, current issues--health care and welfare reform, and the new international focus on population--are drawing attention to the consequences of unintended pregnancy. In this climate The Best Intentions offers a timely exploration of family planning issues from a distinguished panel of experts.
This committee sheds much-needed light on the questions and controversies surrounding unintended pregnancy. The book offers specific recommendations to put the United States on par with other developed nations in terms of contraceptive attitudes and policies, and it considers the effectiveness of over 20 pregnancy prevention programs.
The Best Intentions explores problematic definitions--"unintended" versus "unwanted" versus "mistimed"--and presents data on pregnancy rates and trends. The book also summarizes the health and social consequences of unintended pregnancies, for both men and women, and for the children they bear.
Why does unintended pregnancy occur? In discussions of "reasons behind the rates," the book examines Americans' ambivalence about sexuality and the many other social, cultural, religious, and economic factors that affect our approach to contraception. The committee explores the complicated web of peer pressure, life aspirations, and notions of romance that shape an individual's decisions about sex, contraception, and pregnancy. And the book looks at such practical issues as the attitudes of doctors toward birth control and the place of contraception in both health insurance and "managed care."
The Best Intentions offers frank discussion, synthesis of data, and policy recommendations on one of today's most sensitive social topics. This book will be important to policymakers, health and social service personnel, foundation executives, opinion leaders, researchers, and concerned individuals. May

Reviews

"Anyone who cares for women and children or delivers prenatal care should spend time reading, examining, and dipping into this book. It is fascinating, eye-opening, and distressing. It should be on all family physicians' bookshelves.";--IT;Family Medicine;RO

from this page one coul start reading

an old oneS but need to see

The Validity of Retrospective Reports of Unwanted Births in the United States: Effects of Preference for Children of a Given Sex
David L. Kruegel
Studies in Family Planning, Vol. 6, No. 9 (Sep., 1975), pp. 345-348
(article consists of 4 pages)
Published by: Population Council
Stable URL: http://www.jstor.org/stable/1964701

The Estimation of Unwanted Fertility
John B. Casterline and Laila O. El-Zeini
Demography, Vol. 44, No. 4 (Nov., 2007), pp. 729-745
(article consists of 17 pages)
Published by: Population Association of America
Stable URL: http://www.jstor.org/stable/30053115

Vienna AIDS Conference

"Eastern Europe in Spotlight at Vienna AIDS Conference"
Agence France Presse (03.10.10)

In Vienna on Wednesday, UNAIDS chief Michel Sidibe previewed the 18th International AIDS Conference being held there this summer. "AIDS 2010 will be the conference for people without a voice," he said at a press briefing. "The rapidly growing HIV/AIDS epidemics in Eastern Europe, fueled primarily by unsafe injecting drug use, are topics under the spotlight at AIDS 2010," to be held July 18-23, UNAIDS and the UN Office on Drugs and Crime (UNODC) said in a joint statement.

Vienna is a gateway to Eastern Europe and Central Asia - regions where HIV prevalence has nearly doubled since 2001, largely due to unsafe drug injection. An estimated 1.5 million people are living with HIV in Eastern Europe and Central Asia. By holding the conference in the Austrian capital, organizers hope to highlight the regions' marginalized groups like drug users, said Robin Gorna, head of the International AIDS Society. "To break the trajectory of the HIV epidemic in Eastern Europe, we must stop new infections among injecting drug users and their partners," Sidibe said. "People who use drugs have a right to access the best possible options for prevention, care, and treatment."

"We can and must reverse the HIV epidemic, first of all by preventing the spread of drug use, and then by providing treatment to addicts. In this comprehensive program, HIV-targeted measures include providing clean injecting equipment, opioid substitution, and antiretroviral therapy," said UNODC head Antonio Maria Costa.

For more information on the conference, visit www.aids2010.org.


CDC HIV/Hepatitis/STD/TB Prevention News Update Thursday, March 11, 2010

fools day

Всероссийский конгресс "АМБУЛАТОРНО-ПОЛИКЛИНИЧЕСКАЯ ПРАКТИКА - НОВЫЕ ГОРИЗОНТЫ"

Место проведения: г. Москва, ул. Академика Опарина, д. 4, ФГУ «Научный центр акушерства гинекологии и перинатологии им. В.И. Кулакова»

Дата проведения: 29 марта - 2 апреля 2010 года

16.00 - 17.30 МАЛЫЙ ЗАЛ
Круглый стол
Российская ассоциация «Народонаселения и развития»
«Сексуальные и репродуктивные права: медицинские, сексуальные, демографические и правовые аспекты»
Председатель: Ерофеева Л.В.

* Правовые аспекты
Павлова Ю.В. - 15 мин.
* Социальные аспекты
Малова Т.М. – 15 мин.
* Медицинские аспекты
Дикке Г.В. – 15 мин.
* Демографические аспекты
Сакевич В.И, Денисов Б.П. – 15 мин.
* Международные основы
Ерофеева Л.В. – 15 мин.
* Дискуссия. Ответы на вопросы. – 15 мин.

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