Unintended Pregnancies in Hamedan, Iran: Levels and Determinants

Amir Erfani; Hatam Hosseini; Marzieh Nojomi

Abstract

The recent limitation in the provision of publicly-funded family planning services in Iran has concerned stakeholders in reproductive health about the incidence of unintended pregnancies. This study used data from Hamedan Survey of Fertility, conducted in April-June 2015 among a representative sample of 3,000 married women aged 15-49 years living in the city of Hamedan (Iran), to estimate levels of unintended pregnancies and examine factors related to pregnancy intentions for the most recent birth, using multinomial logistic regression analyses. Results showed that 23% of pregnant women reported their pregnancy as unintended (17% mistimed and 6% unwanted). Moreover, unintended pregnancies in the five years preceding the survey were the result of failures of withdrawal (35%) and of modern contraceptive use (33%), along with contraceptive discontinuation (23%) and nonuse (9%). Multivariate results indicated that the risk of unintended pregnancy was lower among women reporting modern contraceptive failures and lower among those reporting contraceptive discontinuation and nonuse, compared with women experiencing withdrawal failures. The high incidence of unintended pregnancies among women experiencing contraceptive failures and discontinuation imply their high unmet need for contraceptive knowledge and counseling rather than for access to contraceptive methods. Women and Health, 2018, DOI: 10.1080/03630242.2018.1478360, PP. 1-17. Click here to get the Paper.

Age-Structural Transition in Iran: Short- and Long-Term Consequences of Drastic Fertility Swings During the Final Decades of the Twentieth Century

Amir H. Mehryar, Shirin Ahmadnia

Abstract
Immediately after the Revolution (1979) the Islamic Republic of Iran (IRI) adopted a pronatalist policy advocating early marriage and childbearing as basic Islamic values. The result was a tremendous rise in fertility rate and a drastic change in the age structure of the population. Although the baby boom period was rather short and the antinatalist policy adopted in 1989 has been surprisingly successful, the age-structural transition (AST) produced by the pronatalist policy has already affected various aspects of the Iranian society. The entry of the baby boomers into the school system (from 1984 on) led to a heavy burden on various levels of the educational system. Their gradual entry into the labour market (from around 1995) has contributed significantly to the current unemployment crisis. Their impact on the housing market is also already being felt. Their eventual exit from the labour market (in the early 2040s) looms as a major threat to Iran’s social security system. The aim of this paper is to review the process and dynamics of AST in Iran and to explore its medium- and long-term consequences for the social and economic development of the country. In Age-Structural Transitions: Challenges for Development, Edited by Ian Pool, Laura R. WONG and Éric Vilquin, Paris, 2006, PP. 319-358.