Pregnancy context and women’s health-related quality of life

Abstract Objective The objective was to quantify the association of pregnancy context and health-related quality of life (HRQoL). Study design English- or Spanish-speaking women, aged 16–44, with pregnancies Results We enrolled 161 participants (mean age=27.2±6.6 years). Only 14% self-identified as White, non-Hispanic; 42% Hispanic; 37% Black, non-Hispanic; and 7% multiracial. Most (79%) participants were unmarried, and 75% were parenting. Mean gestational age was 9±4.6 weeks. In unadjusted models, women reporting mixed feelings about wanting to have a baby, an undesired pregnancy or feeling unhappy about learning of their pregnancy more frequently had low mental and physical HRQoL compared to women reporting wanted, desired, happy pregnancies. Women with an unplanned pregnancy or pregnancy occurring at the wrong time also had lower physical HRQoL than women reporting pregnancies that were planned or happened at the right time. However, after multivariate adjustment, including history of depression, pregnancy contexts were not associated with low mental or physical HRQoL. Conclusions After adjusting for multiple confounders, pregnancy context is not significantly associated with HRQoL. Implications The focus on pregnancy intention in public health programs may not sufficiently assess multidimensional aspects of pregnancy context and may not align with patient-centered outcomes such as HRQoL.