title: Factors associated with ex-nuptial birth.
abstract: The paper examines the background to 210 live exnuptial births studied in the first phase of the Christ-church Child Development Study. The results show: 1. That nearly half of the children had been conceived within cohabiting situations. 2. That nearly one in five ex-nuptial children was the result of a planned pregnancy. 3. Maternal reactions to the birth and pregnancy varied with the mother's situation: cohabiting mothers reported considerably less adverse reaction to the birth than did non-cohabiting mothers. 4. Overall, mothers of ex-nuptial children had a fairly sophisticated appreciation of contraceptive methods. 5. One quarter of unplanned ex-nuptial pregnancies were the result of contraceptive failure and three-quarters were the result of contraceptive non-usage. 6. In common with previous findings for nuptial pregnancies, about 35 percent of unplanned ex-nuptial pregnancies were ascribed to a breakdown in the mother's pattern of usage of the contraceptive pill.
mesh_terms: D000293:Adolescent; D000328:Adult; D005193:Family Planning Services; D005260:Female; D007722:Health Knowledge, Attitudes, Practice; D006801:Humans; D007086:Illegitimacy; D008875:Middle Aged; D009520:New Zealand; D011247:Pregnancy; D013223:Statistics as Topic