Perspectives on Sexual and Reproductive Health
Volume 34, Number 4, July/August 2002

 

The Extent of Pregnancy Mistiming and Its Association
With Maternal Characteristics and Behaviors
And Pregnancy Outcomes
TABLES

TABLE 1. Number (in 000s) and percentage distribution of mistimed pregnancies ending in live births, by the extent of mistiming, according to maternal characteristics
Characteristic N Extent of mistiming (no. of mos. early)
1-6 7-12 13-24 25-36 37-48 49-60 >60 Total
All 4,120 8.5 21.4 24.7 15.1 6.6 10.5 13.2 100.0
Age at birth
<20 1,207 2.8 6.2 17.6 17.4 10.6 17.5 27.8 100.0
20-24 1,567 5.8 21.1 30.9 15.4 6.6 10.7 9.5 100.0
25-29 748 15.6 32.6 25.7 13.3 4.9 4.1 3.7 100.0
30-44 598 18.6 38.8 21.4 11.9 0.3 3.7 5.3 100.0
Marital status at birth
Never-married 1,849 3.2 9.2 22.6 18.2 9.6 15.1 21.9 100.0
Married 2,032 13.5 32.9 25.2 12.4 4.0 5.8 6.2 100.0
Formerly married 239 7.9 17.6 36.3 13.3 4.8 14.5 5.6 100.0
Parity
1 2,099 7.8 13.5 20.8 15.7 9.5 13.0 19.7 100.0
2 1,140 8.9 26.6 29.2 17.8 3.0 8.0 6.5 100.0
>=3 881 10.0 33.3 28.3 10.2 4.0 7.8 6.4 100.0
Poverty level at interview
0-149% 1,274 6.4 17.4 31.1 17.3 7.3 11.7 8.8 100.0
150-299% 1,079 9.5 33.7 23.8 13.9 2.5 7.0 9.6 100.0
>=300% 740 19.4 30.4 27.6 10.5 2.5 3.9 5.7 100.0
Education at interview
<high school diploma/GED 558 9.5 28.3 24.9 17.0 5.5 6.1 8.7 100.0
High school diploma/GED 1,317 7.9 20.8 30.4 17.1 5.7 10.7 7.4 100.0
Some college 735 8.1 28.2 30.5 10.2 3.7 8.6 10.7 100.0
>=college 481 22.9 35.5 19.2 11.0 1.4 3.1 6.9 100.0
Race
Black 861 3.4 10.8 25.4 17.8 8.1 15.2 19.2 100.0
White 2,987 10.0 24.7 24.7 13.9 6.5 9.5 10.7 100.0
Other 272 9.1 18.3 22.4 19.2 2.8 6.7 21.5 100.0
Notes: For poverty level and education, data are shown only for women aged 22-44 at the time of interview. Ns are weighted to reflect national averages.

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TABLE 2. Results of multivariate analysis indicating mean number of months (and standard error) of mistiming, by maternal characteristics
Characteristic Mean mos.
Age**
<20 46.4 (2.4)
20-24 31.2 (1.4)†
25-29 24.7 (1.8)†,‡
30-44 25.3 (2.1)†,§
Marital status**
Never-married 38.8 (1.7)††
Married 35.3 (3.0)‡‡
Formerly married 28.8 (1.4)
Race*
Black 38.2 (2.4)§§
White 32.0 (1.1)
Other 37.4 (3.5)
*Overall p<.05. ** Overall p<.0001. †Significantly different from <20 at p<.0001. ‡Significantly different from 20-24 at p<.001. §Significantly different from 20-24 at p<.05. ††Significantly different from formerly married at p<.0001. ‡‡Significantly different from formerly married at p<.05. §§Significantly different from white at p<.05. Note: Analysis also included parity, poverty level and education.

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TABLE 3. Percentage distribution of pregnancies ending in live births, by intendedness, and percentage distribution within each category of intendedness, by selected maternal characteristics, maternal behaviors and pregnancy outcomes
Variable Intended Moderately mistimed Seriously mistimed Unwanted
All 69.0 11.5 9.6 9.1
CHARACTERISTIC
Age at birth
<20 5.9†,‡,§ 14.4‡ 47.0§ 14.0
>20 94.1 85.6 53.0 86.0
Marital status at birth
Never-married 13.9†,‡,§ 29.0‡ 63.8§ 38.0
Ever-married 86.1 71.0 36.2 62.0
Parity
1 40.6‡,§ 39.6‡,§ 65.5§ 18.4
>1 59.4 60.4 34.5 81.6
Poverty level at interview
<150% 28.4‡,§ 34.7‡,§ 52.6 56.7
>=150% 71.6 65.3 47.4 43.3
Education at interview
<high school/GED 52.5‡,§ 56.3§ 67.9 74.5
>high school 47.5 43.7 32.1 25.5
Race
Black 10.4‡,§,†† 15.4‡,§ 27.3 31.0
Nonblack 89.6 84.6 72.7 69.1
BEHAVIOR
Prenatal care initiated (weeks)
<8 72.9‡,§,†† 63.0 51.3 57.6
>8 27.1 37.0 48.7 42.4
Breastfed
Yes 60.8‡,§ 57.5§,‡‡ 42.4 39.1
No 39.2 42.5 57.6 60.9
OUTCOMES
Birth weight (g)
<2,500 5.1 6.6 8.0 6.0
>=2,500 94.9 93.5 92.1 94.0
Gestational age at birth (weeks)
<37 7.7‡‡ 10.4 13.7 11.0
>=37 92.3 89.7 86.4 89.0
Total 100.0 100.0 100.0 100.0
†Significantly different from moderately mistimed at p<.0001. ‡Significantly different from seriously mistimed at p<.0001. §Significantly different from unwanted at p<.0001. ††Significantly different from moderately mistimed at p=.001. ‡‡Significantly different from seriously mistimed at p<.001. Notes: Moderately mistimed pregnancies are those mistimed by 24 or fewer months, and seriously mistimed pregnancies are those mistimed by more than 24 months. The percentage distribution of all births does not add to 100 because women who responded "don't know" were not included. For poverty level and education, data are shown only for women aged 22-44 at the time of interview.

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