title: The process of preventing pregnancy: women's experiences and emergency contraception use.
abstract: The model of "unintended" pregnancy has dominated reproductive health research and policy since the early 1970s. The concept reflects the prevailing highly rational model of behavior in public health and the assumption that the only acceptable points of preventing pregnancy are before or during intercourse. This model is simplistic, overly utilitarian, and does not reflect the experiences of the more than 1 million women who use emergency contraception (EC) and have abortions each year in the United States. Based on stories gathered through open-ended interviews of32 women seeking EC, the authors proposea dynamic process of pregnancy prevention, spanning the act of intercourse and situated in a complex cultural context. Such a model reconceptualizes efforts to control one's fertility, normalizes the experiences of women who do not fit the existing models, and generates new ideas for supporting women and their male partners in their efforts to control their reproduction.
authors.affiliation: Department of Sociology, University of Michigan, Ann Arbor 48109-1382, USA. esacovea@umich.edu
authors.forename: Anne W
authors.initials: AW
authors.lastname: Esacove
authors.forename: Kimberly R
authors.initials: KR
authors.lastname: Andringa
mesh_terms: D000293:Adolescent; D000328:Adult; D000739:Anecdotes as Topic; D003268:Contraception Behavior; D003281:Contraceptives, Postcoital; D005193:Family Planning Services / Q000379:methods; D005260:Female; D006801:Humans; D007407:Interviews as Topic; D008875:Middle Aged; D011247:Pregnancy; D011275:Pregnancy, Unwanted; D036301:Qualitative Research; D014481:United States
chemical_list: D003281:Contraceptives, Postcoital