First Steps Database - Unintended Pregnancy

This report describes the characteristics of women at risk of having unintended pregnancies in Washington State. The information draws on the state Department of Health's Pregnancy Risk Assessment monitoring System, DOH's Pregnancy and Induced Abortion Statistics 1991-1994 Reports, and the Department of Social and Health Services' First Steps Database. Unintended pregnancies in Washington State for 1993-1994 were analyzed by woman's age, marital status, and income. Findings suggest that 55 percent of all pregnancies are unintended at the time of conception. The majority (57%) of all unintended pregnancies occur to women in their twenties. More than 70 percent of all pregnancies for women under the age of 25 are unintended at the time of conception. Of the 40 percent of births that were unintended, 60 percent of those were to women who were married. More than two-thirds of births to poor women were unintended at conception, while less than one-third of births to higher income women were unintended.