Context: A WHO study has revealed that unintended pregnancy puts mother, child at risk.

Reason for Unintended pregnancies:

• A new study conducted by the World Health Organization (WHO) in 36 countries found that two-thirds of sexually active women who wished to delay or limit childbearing stopped using contraception for the fear of side effects, health concerns and underestimation of the likelihood of conception. This led to one in four pregnancies being unintended.

Magnitude of Unintended pregnancies in INDIA:

• In India, the abortion rate was 47 per 1,000 women aged 15-49 years
• As per the figures published by international medical journal Lancet last year on the incidence of abortion and unintended pregnancy in India, it is estimated that 15.6 million abortions occurred in India in 2015.
• In India, abortions accounted for one-third of all pregnancies, and nearly half of the pregnancies were unintended

Effect:

Other risks involved:

Unintended pregnancies can lead to a wide range of health risks for the mother and child. 

• The risks include malnutrition, illness, abuse and neglect, and even death. 
• Unintended pregnancies can further lead to cycles of high fertility, as well as lower educational and employment potential and poverty challenges which can span generations.

How to tackle this problem?

• The WHO report stated that modern methods of contraception had a vital role in preventing unintended pregnancies.

• Similarly, High-quality family planning interventions offered a range of potential benefits that encompassed not only improved maternal and child health, but also social and economic development, education, and women’s empowerment.

Way Forward:

Need for services that take a shared decision-making approach to selecting and using effective methods of contraception that most fit the needs and preferences of clients.

Also, it is important to identify early when women and girls are having concerns about the method they are using and enable women and girls to change modern methods while remaining protected through effective counselling and respect of their rights and dignity.

The WHO has also recommended that overcoming legal, policy, social, cultural and structural barriers will enable more people to benefit from effective contraceptive services.