There are very few studies that are available from South Asia that have examined the relationship between pregnancy decision-making, IPV, and unintended pregnancy.
This study was done with the purpose to examine the associations between unintended pregnancy, women’s reports of pregnancy decided externally by husband or in-laws, and IPV, among a sample of married, postpartum women.
Data that was obtained from the ‘Mechanisms for Relations of Domestic Violence to Poor Maternal and Infant Health in India’ study was analyzed. Descriptive comparisons were done between levels of unintended pregnancy were run on all major variables.
The study concluded through its findings that the mistimed and unwanted pregnancies were reported by 12.2% and 7.2% of women, respectively. Externally-decided pregnancies were reported by 8.8% of women. Some 29.4% of women reported experiencing physical and/or sexual IPV in the year prior to pregnancy. Women reporting externally-decided pregnancies were significantly more likely to have had mistimed pregnancies than intended pregnancies, as were women reporting IPV. Neither external pregnancy control nor IPV was associated with an unwanted pregnancy.
Reference: https://srh.bmj.com/content/45/1/10
