Embarazo no deseado a término en mujeres atendidas en dos hospitales del Distrito Federal

Background: Unwanted pregnancy is a subject rarely addressed and recognized worldwide. International data report that one third of pregnancies are unwanted. Mexico has little information about this subject; however, it is weak and yields figures ranging from 20 to 50%. Objective: To describe and analyze the context of the factors associated to unwanted pregnancy. Participants and methods: We made a comparative, transversal, and quantitative-qualitative study from February 2005 to March 2006 in two public hospitals in Mexico City that included 242 mothers who were in a common room and were visited at home 30 days after giving birth. During the first interview, two questionnaires were applied: one semi-structured and another to gather their opinion about pregnancy; during the second interview, the mothers commented on their experiences with their children. Results: During the first interview, 49.8% mothers reported not wanting their pregnancy; 27% was single, 47.7% was younger than 21 years old, 43.2% worked outside home and 54% had no social security. The reason mothers gave for not wanting their children was that they blamed a third party for the pregnancy. During the second interview, only 20% of the mothers remained in the position of not wanting their children; the rest of the mothers had changed their opinion as a consequence of the contact with the baby and the nurture they gave them. Conclusions: There are several personal, familiar, social, and cultural factors that contribute to unwanted pregnancy. It is necessary