Unintended conceptions leading to wanted pregnancies – an integral perspective on pregnancy acceptance from a mixed-methods study in Germany

Figures & data

Table 1. Response to the pregnancy (unintended pregnancies carried to term, first pregnancy in life).

Response to the pregnancy		(Very) welcome n = 932	Ambiguous n = 936	Not (at all) welcome n = 434	Cramér‘s V
	n	%	%	%	(p-Value)
Pregnancy intendedness
Unintended, but not strictly unwanted (100%)	1 549	50.0	40.0	10.0	.362
Unwanted (100%)	753	21.0	42.0	37.1	(<.001)*
Contraceptiveuse before pregnancy
Yes (100%)	883	26.3	46.5	27.2	.243
No (100%)	1 419	49.3	37.0	13.7	(<.001)*
Relation with partner
Difficult (100%)	808	26.7	44.4	28.8	.236
Not difficult (100%)	1 493	48.0	38.6	13.5	(<.001)*
Job / educational or financial situation
Difficult (100%)	1 657	35.0	43.4	21.6	.185
Not difficult (100%)	645	54.6	33.6	11.8	(<.001)*
I always wanted to have children
Yes (100%)	1 859	43.4	40.7	16.0	.126
Partly (100%)	216	28.7	46.3	25.0	(<.001)*
No (100%)	227	28.2	35.2	36.6
Age at pregnancy
Less than 20 years (100%)	346	16.8	46.5	36.7	.237
20 years or more (100%)	1 956	44.7	39.6	15.7	(<.001)*
Education
Low / 8–9 classes (100%)	268	36.6	42.9	20.5	.028
Middle / 10 classes (100%)	1 043	39.7	40.8	19.5	(.450)
Higher / 12–13 classes (100%)	987	42.4	39.8	17.8

Data: Women’s Lives: Family Planning in the Life Course, FCHE, 2012–2018.

n = 2.302 unintended pregnancies carried to term, first pregnancy in life in 20- to 44-year-old women in 12 Federal States.

*Statistically significant.

Table 2. Qualitative typology of emerging acceptance of a first pregnancy, unintended and carried to term: Moment of emergence, attitude towards the prospect to have a baby and plot of the story.

	Moment of acceptance	Attitude towards the prospect to have a baby	Explanation, plot of the story
First pregnancies, unintended and leading to a baby
(1) Acceptance before conceiving, n = 15	Before conceiving	Generalised readiness for a baby: deliberate planning not necessary	Generalised readiness; a pregnancy as a possible result of taking chances was accepted in advance
(2) Acceptance as a desire before, n = 9	When pregnancy was confirmed	Positive attitude towards a baby was in conflict with adverse living conditions, deliberate planning was not possible	Somehow a desire; the pregnancy itself as ‘accident’ solved the conflict
(3) Acceptance related to the moral decision to keep the baby, n = 22	When decision was made to keep the baby	Even unintended pregnancies should be accepted as moral obligation; rejection of abortion or identification as a mother fighting for the life of a baby	No preceding readiness/desire, but the spontaneous positive decision to keep the baby as a social norm of the responsibility and obligation
(4) Acceptance due to a turning point, n = 8	Later in the course of pregnancy	A new evaluation in light of changes: a baby is acceptable	No preceding readiness/desire, no moral decision; an ultrasound image, changing conditions etc. provoked a change of mind
(5) Acceptance after a time of uncertainty and ambivalence, n = 5	Later in the course of pregnancy	Attitude towards the prospect to have a baby, unclear and ambivalent, attitude towards abortion might be relevant	No preceding readiness/desire, no moral decision, no turning point; working out uncertainty and ambivalence
Compared to: First pregnancies, unwanted and leading to an abortion
No acceptance, n = 33	Never	No intention/desire/readiness, no turning point, no new evaluation, attitude towards abortion: okay	More or less uncertainty; with more or less conflicts, I / we decided to have an abortion

Data: Women’s Lives: Family Planning in the Life Course, FCHE, 2012–2018.

n = 59 narrations of 20- to 44-year-old women in 12 Federal States with a first pregnancy, unintended and carried to terms, compared to n = 33 narration with a first pregnancy ending in an abortion.