Authors: Anna L Christensen Deborah F Perry HuynhNhu Le Saifuddin Ahmed
Publish Date: 2011/01/15
Volume: 13, Issue: 3, Pages: 478-486
Abstract
Hispanic women a large and growing ethnic minority group in the US have an unintended birth rate over twice the national average However little is known about unintended birth among Hispanic immigrants The purpose of this study is to determine the sociodemographic including immigrationrelated correlates of unintended birth in this population Data were collected as part of a preventive intervention among pregnant Hispanic immigrants at increased risk for depression n = 215 The correlates of women’s selfreported pregnancy intention intended mistimed unwanted were examined using multinomial logistic regression Similar to nationally representative findings unintended birth was more common among younger women single women and women not cohabiting with their partners and women with more children Additionally women who had immigrated to the US less than 1 year ago had almost a 4 times greater risk of a mistimed birth RRR = 382 P 005 compared to women who immigrated 1–4 years ago Women with greater social support scores had a reduced chance of mistimed RRR = 098 P 010 and unwanted RRR = 097 P 005 birth The findings have implications for development of effective and culturally appropriate family planning programs They suggest that interventions should target young women women who have achieved their desired family size and very recent immigrants
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