Unplanned Pregnancy Statistics

"Somewhere on this globe, every ten seconds, there is a woman giving birth to a child. She must be found and stopped." ~ Sam Levenson

Yes, maybe not exactly ten seconds but the truth is that children are taking birth at an alarming rate in all the corners of this world. Every second. More than one of them. Is this an issue of great concern? Is something being done about this problem? Are all these pregnancies planned? Don't they know how to prevent pregnancy? What about the abortions then? All these questions bring us to statistics of unplanned pregnancies. These unwanted pregnancy statistics are not only surprising but they show us how the 'educated class' is also uneducated about a few things. Given below are some statistics relating to different types of unplanned pregnancies. One thing we have to keep mind is that unplanned pregnancies and different from teen pregnancies. Unplanned pregnancies are also possible in committed and married couples.

Shocking Unplanned Pregnancy Statistics

1. A shocking 49% pregnancies in the United States (inside and outside marriage) are unplanned according to the Alan Guttmacher Institute, New York. What is more shocking is that approximately half of these 49% unplanned pregnancies result in abortion.
2. In some Sub-Saharan and Niger regions, where women marry young, the unplanned pregnancies are really a surprise. 233 out of every/per 1,000 women, have unplanned pregnancies. Numbers in India and Bangladesh are closer to these figures.
3. Some countries have really good unplanned pregnancy figures. These are more of the industrially developed countries and few of the powerful economies. In Netherlands and South Korea, the numbers stand at 5 per 1,000 and 3 per 1,000 respectively.
4. Another report says that every year 60,000,000 women in the United States are considered to be childbearing (pregnant). Out of these 3,000,000 do not use any contraception and thus account for a shocking and careless 47% of unplanned conceptions.
5. A 2001 - 02 AIHW National Hospital Morbidity Database report says that 24.0% and 5.1% of hospitalizations are done every single day in public and private hospitals respectively for childbirth, puerperium and pregnancy in general.

Teen Pregnancies Statistics

1. In Scotland, according to a study by the Public Health Ministry in 2007, in the poor areas of the country, 1 in every 10 teenagers becomes pregnant by 16 years of age.
2. In the United States, every year, every single year a shocking 468,988 babies are delivered by teenage mothers. Out of these, approximately 82% of teenage pregnancies are unplanned.
3. Before they reach 20 years of age, 34% young women in the United States become pregnant at least once. That yearly results into approximately 820,000 teens. Out of these, 8 per 10 and unplanned, unintended and a shocking 79% of these pregnancies are pregnancies of unmarried teenagers.
4. The United States of America yearly spends 7 billion USD on teenage pregnancies.
5. In Canada, in 1997, 19,724 women between the age group of 15-19 had teenage deliveries while a extremely shocking 21,233 of women in the same age group had an abortion.

Problems Arising Due to Unplanned Pregnancies

Problems	Figures
No. of infants that die before turning one	27, 864
Premature born babies	467, 201
Babies born with low birth weight	307, 030
No. of women who experience 1 or 1 + pregnancy complications	875, 000
No. of babies born with birth defects	154, 051
No. of babies are born without sufficient prenatal care	458, 952

Now that you have read these unplanned pregnancy statistics, you will realize that teenage pregnancy is not the only contribution to these unintended pregnancies. Catherine Jones rightly said that "Whether your pregnancy was meticulously planned, medically coaxed, or happened by surprise, one thing is certain, your life will never be the same." We have to realize this and take necessary measures like birth control pills and other contraception. People who have used contraception have also had unplanned pregnancies due to missing a pill or improper wearing of a condom. There is always a time for everything and unplanned pregnancies don't only increase the burden but also lead to many other problems as we have read above. Next time you have intercourse with your partner, remember this piece of information and Take care.