Fact Sheet
Unintended Pregnancy
For decades, the Guttmacher Institute has estimated the incidence, consequences and costs of unintended pregnancy; examined what drives unintended pregnancy rates and trends; identified groups at high risk of unintended pregnancy; and promoted policies and programs that enable women to time and space their pregnancies.
Resources
Almost 40% of the four million births in the United States each year result from an unintended pregnancy, and such births have been linked to poor child health outcomes. During and immediately following pregnancy, women with unplanned births are less likely to receive early prenatal care or to breast-feed the infant and are more likely to have infants with poorer health at birth. Enabling women to prevent an unintended pregnancy is a way to improve the health of children
Kathryn Kost
Director of Domestic Research