Maternal Obesity and Its Association With Unintended Pregnancies and Contraceptive Use [273

Abstract

INTRODUCTION: Obesity and unintended pregnancy, did not want to be pregnant then or any time in the future, are current epidemics that differentially affect women based on sociodemographic factors. We aim to explore unintended pregnancy and contraceptive use among obese and nonobese women in Los Angeles County. METHODS: We analyzed the 2012 Los Angeles Mommy and Baby data. Los Angeles Mommy and Baby is a population-based surveillance system designed to monitor self-reported experiences occurring before, during, and after pregnancy. χ2 tests and logistic regression assessed differences between obese and nonobese mothers. Analyses were conducted using sampling weights to account for the complex sampling scheme. RESULTS: There were 6,843 respondents to the 2012 Los Angeles Mommy and Baby survey. Overall, 48% of births in Los Angeles County were unintended. Mothers who were obese were 1.1 times (P<.001) more likely to have an unintended pregnancy compared with mothers who were not obese. Overweight women (body mass index [BMI, calculated as weight (kg)/[height (m)]2] between 25.0 and 29.9) were 1.3 times more likely to not use any method of birth control than normal-weight women (BMI less than 25). Obese women (BMI greater than 30) were 1.1 times more likely to not use contraception than normal-weight women. CONCLUSION: Obesity in mothers was associated with an increased chance of unintended pregnancy. Both overweight and obese women were more likely to report not having used birth control before pregnancy than normal-weight women. To reduce the number of unintended pregnancies in Los Angeles County, it is important to educate overweight and obese mothers about the significance of contraceptive methods.