Get out the shotgun, paw.

February 3, 2008 7:29 AM

Here's something that Mrs. Jammer and I were wondering about this morning; it's proven really hard to google any information, but I'm sure someone's studied this somewhere at some point. Can anyone help me find out what percentage of conceptions in the US (or elsewhere in the Western world) are "accidental" vs. intentional? Bonus points for stats on accidentals in actual relationships vs. party-babies.
posted by jammer to Health & Fitness (5 answers total)

Best answer: Here's an abstract of a study that found when miscarriages were excluded, 49% of pregnancies concluding in the U.S. in 1994 were unintended. For more information, explore the "related articles", full text, and footnotes.
posted by Snerd at 8:06 AM on February 3, 2008

Best answer: If anyone has the most up-to-date stats, it's the Guttmacher Institute. Here's one study, another. Generally 49 percent of pregnancies are unintended.
posted by ClaudiaCenter at 9:52 AM on February 3, 2008

I thought it was weird that they asked me this question at my first pregnancy appointment. I said it was planned, but had I said unplanned, I wonder if I would have been offered counseling or other information. It seemed an odd thing to ask.
posted by GaelFC at 11:14 AM on February 3, 2008

Unintended isn't necessarily the same as accidental. I interpret "accidental" to mean "we didn't really want to become pregnant right now" while I suspect that a large portion of people who answer "unintended" are more like "we didn't really have a plan one way or the other."
posted by winston at 1:33 PM on February 3, 2008

Best answer: This article was in the NZ Herald last week... I thought it was interesting... It reports that basically about half of surveyed women had become pregnant unexpectedly, and of those more than half were using a form of birth control - 43% on oral contraceptive pills.
posted by sycophant at 5:15 PM on February 3, 2008