Unplanned childbearing in Kenya: the socio-demographic correlates and the extent of repeatability among women

Type Journal Article - Social Science & Medicine
Title Unplanned childbearing in Kenya: the socio-demographic correlates and the extent of repeatability among women
Author(s)
Volume 56
Issue 1
Publication (Day/Month/Year) 2003
Page numbers 167-178
URL http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/12435559
Abstract
Unplanned pregnancies account for a substantial proportion of births in Kenya and can have a variety of negative
consequences on individual women, their families, and the society as a whole. This paper examines the correlates of
mistimed and unwanted childbearing in Kenya, with special focus on the extent of repetitiveness of these events among
women. A multilevel multinomial model is applied to the 1993 Kenya Demographic and Health Survey data. The
results show that unplanned childbearing in Kenya is associated with a number of factors, including urban/rural
residence, region, ethnicity, maternal education, maternal age, marital status, birth order, length of preceding birth
interval, family planning practise, fertility preference and unmet need for family planning. In addition to these factors,
women who have experienced an unplanned birth are highly likely to have a repeat occurrence.