Consequences of unintended pregnancy on mother and fetus and newborn in North-East of Iran

Introduction: Unintended pregnancy is one of the most important public health problems. The complications of unintended pregnancy can lead to mortality and irreversible health damages in the whole world and may involve the mother, fetus, and neonate. This study aims to determine the most important complications of unintended pregnancy for mother, her fetus, and neonate. Materials and methods: This retrospective cohort study was conducted to assess the effects of unintended pregnancy on pregnant women in Bojnourd County, North Khorasan Province, Iran. In total 748 pregnant mothers were selected, including 374 mothers as exposed group (unintended pregnancy) and 374 as unexposed group (planned pregnancy). The data were collected using a researcher-made checklist and the mothers were interviewed by phone to complete the data. Results: The relationship between unintended pregnancy with maternal complications of maternal age (R²adj = 1.03) (p =.044), education level (R²adj = 2.01) (p <.001), mother’s job (R²adj = 0.88) (p =.025), father’s job (R²adj = 0.86) (p =.018), number of prenatal cares (R²adj = 0.80) (p <.001), private specialist visit (R²adj = 0.28) (p =.001), use of certain drugs (R²adj = 2.58) (p =.001), gestational weight gain (R²adj = 1.79) (p =.01), vaginal bleeding (R²adj = 3.81) (p =.004), breastfeeding start 3-h postpartum (R²adj =19.06) (p <.001), gestational diabetes (R²adj = 12.94) (p <.001), and urinary tract infection (R²adj = 7.48) (p <.001) was significant after adjusting for confounding factors in the logistic regression model. There was a significant relationship between unintended pregnancy with neonatal variables such as deviation of 6- to 12-month neonate from height growth (R²adj = 4.78) (p =.016) and from weight growth (R²adj = 2.01) (p =.011), as well as the presence of another infant under 2 years in the family (R²adj = 4.28) (p =.014). Conclusion: It is concluded that unwanted pregnancy seems to have substantial negative consequences for women during their pregnancy and also her children. It is suggested health policy makes in Iran consider this important issue in national reproductive health and family program to reduce healthcare burden.