The National Survey of Family Growth is a periodic survey administered to women between the ages of 15 and 44 years and designed to produce national estimates of statistics on fertility, family planning, and aspects of maternal and child health that are closely related to childbearing. This report describes findings from the 1982 National Survey of Family Growth, the first administration of the survey to include never married women. It presents statistics on contraceptive use at first sexual intercourse, first method of contraception ever used, all methods ever used, and current contraceptive status and method. The statistics are shown for women according to race, age, marital status, and selected socioeconomic characteristics. National estimates of contraceptive use for all women of reproductive age are presented in chronological order. Twelve text figures, 8 text tables, and 16 detailed tables are included. Technical notes, definitions of terms, and selected sections of the questionnaire of the National Survey of Family Growth are appended. (NB)
Experts estimate that nearly 60 percent of all U.S. pregnancies--and 81 percent of pregnancies among adolescents--are unintended. Yet the topic of preventing these unintended pregnancies has long been treated gingerly because of personal sensitivities and public controversies, especially the angry debate over abortion. Additionally, child welfare advocates long have overlooked the connection between pregnancy planning and the improved well-being of families and communities that results when children are wanted. Now, current issues--health care and welfare reform, and the new international focus on population--are drawing attention to the consequences of unintended pregnancy. In this climate The Best Intentions offers a timely exploration of family planning issues from a distinguished panel of experts. This committee sheds much-needed light on the questions and controversies surrounding unintended pregnancy. The book offers specific recommendations to put the United States on par with other developed nations in terms of contraceptive attitudes and policies, and it considers the effectiveness of over 20 pregnancy prevention programs. The Best Intentions explores problematic definitions--"unintended" versus "unwanted" versus "mistimed"--and presents data on pregnancy rates and trends. The book also summarizes the health and social consequences of unintended pregnancies, for both men and women, and for the children they bear. Why does unintended pregnancy occur? In discussions of "reasons behind the rates," the book examines Americans' ambivalence about sexuality and the many other social, cultural, religious, and economic factors that affect our approach to contraception. The committee explores the complicated web of peer pressure, life aspirations, and notions of romance that shape an individual's decisions about sex, contraception, and pregnancy. And the book looks at such practical issues as the attitudes of doctors toward birth control and the place of contraception in both health insurance and "managed care." The Best Intentions offers frank discussion, synthesis of data, and policy recommendations on one of today's most sensitive social topics. This book will be important to policymakers, health and social service personnel, foundation executives, opinion leaders, researchers, and concerned individuals. May
These four papers supplement the book Contraception and Reproduction: Health Consequences for Women and Children in the Developing World by bringing together data and analyses that would otherwise be difficult to obtain in a single source. The topics addressed are an analysis of the relationship between maternal mortality and changing reproductive patterns; the risks and benefits of contraception; the effects of changing reproductive patterns on infant health; and the psychosocial consequences to women of controlled fertility and contraceptive use.
Se estudian las consecuencias sanitarias de los diferentes patrones reproductivos en la salud de la mujer y de los niños. Tambien se evaluan el riesgo y los beneficios de los diferentes metodos anticonceptivos, aunque algunos de los datos en los que se basa son de paises desarrollados, el nucleo central del informe son los paises en desarrollo.
More than a quarter of pregnancies worldwide are unintended. Between 1995 and 2000, nearly 700,000 women died and many more experienced illness, injury, and disability as a result of unintended pregnancy. Children born from unplanned conception are at greater risk of low birth weight, of being abused, and of not receiving sufficient resources for healthy development. A wider range of contraceptive options is needed to address the changing needs of the populations of the world across the reproductive life cycle, but this unmet need has not been a major priority of the research community and pharmaceutical industry. New Frontiers in Contraceptive Research: A Blueprint for Action, a new report from the Institute of Medicine of the National Academies, identifies priority areas for research to develop new contraceptives. The report highlights new technologies and approaches to biomedical research, including genomics and proteomics, which hold particular promise for developing new products. It also identifies impediments to drug development that must be addressed. Research sponsors, both public and private, will find topics of interest among the recommendations, which are diverse but interconnected and important for improving the range of contraceptive products, their efficacy, and their acceptability.
