Contraceptive Awareness, Utilization, and Unintended Pregnancy Among Currently Pregnant Women: A Cross-Sectional Study in a North Indian District
Keywords:
unintended pregnancy, LMUP, CONTRACEPTION, METHOD FAILURE, REPRODUCTIVE HEALTHAbstract
Background: India holds 14.3% of the total worldwide burden of public health by unplanned pregnancy. This shows, even with decline in the reproduction rates, that there is a high percentage of ignorance in the population about contraception knowledge, access, and efficacy. This study explores an ever-married behaviour towards unplanned pregnancy and contraceptives among pregnant women in Aligarh, India.
Materials and Methods: The present study recruited 435 ever-married pregnant women through Probability Proportional to Size (PPS) sampling, in which the cross-sectional community-based research was carried out. The data were then collected through a structured questionnaire administered through a face-to-face interview. The pregnancy intention was assessed using the validated London Measure of Unplanned Pregnancy (LMUP).
Results: The prevalence of unintended pregnancies stood at 34%. Those without knowledge concerning contraceptive methods showed greater odds of unintended pregnancy (AOR: 1.72; 95% CI: 1.02-2.66). Out of the total interviewed, 89.4% mentioned being informed about modern contraceptives, contrary to just 37.3% who knew that combined use of condoms and oral contraceptive pills improves effectiveness. Out of the women who have ever used contraception (45.3%), 56.9% were using a method during the conception month, while 32.1% attributed the pregnancy to a method failure. The use of condoms (AOR: 8.78) and oral contraceptive pills (AOR: 4.31) was significantly associated with unintended pregnancy, while awareness of the 3-month effectiveness of injectables was protective (AOR: 0.36).
Conclusion: There are significant gaps regarding contraceptive knowledge, correct usage, and partner support.
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Copyright (c) 2026 Najam Khalique, Chandan Kumar Tiwari, urfi, Anees Ahmad, Salman Khalil, Jyoti Pandey
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