Objective

To evaluate the relationship between intent to be pregnant and selected maternal exposures during pregnancy.

Study design

In 1982-1983, 3,029 women who gave birth to infants without birth defects from 1968-1980 (the control mothers from a large case-control study of birth defects) completed a detailed telephone interview. This analysis examined behaviors reported in the third month of pregnancy because most women would be aware of their pregnancies by the end of the first trimester, and our primary interest was assessing exposures that occurred after pregnancy recognition.

Results

Women who reported unintended pregnancies tended to be younger, nonwhite and less educated, and tended to have higher gravidity than women who reported intended pregnancies. After adjustingfor maternal age, education, race and previous adverse pregnancy outcome, women who reported unintended pregnancies were more likely to report smoking (odds ratio [OR] = 1.4, 95% confidence interval [CI] 1.2, 1.7), illicit drug use (OR=3.4, 95% CI 1.9, 6.4), not taking vitamins (OR = 1.4, 95% CI 1.2, 1.7), and alcohol use (OR=1.2, 95% CI 0.99, 1.4) than women who had intended pregnancies. No association was observed between pregnancy intention and medication use.

Conclusion

These results suggest that women who report having unintended pregnancies are more likely to have some exposures that may result in adverse pregnancy outcomes.