title: The public costs of births resulting from unintended pregnancies: national and state-level estimates.
abstract: BACKGROUND
  Births resulting from unintended pregnancies are associated with substantial maternity and infant care costs to the federal and state governments; these costs have never been estimated at the national and state levels.
  
  
  METHODS
  The proportions of births paid for by public insurance programs in 2006 were estimated, by pregnancy intention status, using data from the Pregnancy Risk Assessment Monitoring System and similar state surveys, or were predicted by multivariate linear regression. Public costs were calculated using state-level estimates of the number of births, by intention status, and of the cost of a publicly funded birth.
  
  
  RESULTS
  In 2006, 64% of births resulting from unintended pregnancies were publicly funded, compared with 48% of all births and 35% of births resulting from intended pregnancies. The proportion of births resulting from unintended pregnancies that were publicly funded varied by state, from 42% to 81%. Of the 2.0 million publicly funded births, 51% resulted from unintended pregnancies, accounting for $11.1 billion in costs-half of the total public expenditures on births. In seven states, the costs for births from unintended pregnancies exceeded a half billion dollars.
  
  
  CONCLUSIONS
  Public insurance programs are central in assisting American families in affording pregnancy and childbirth; however, they pay for a disproportionately high number of births resulting from unintended pregnancy. The resulting budgetary impact warrants increased public efforts to reduce unintended pregnancy.
authors.affiliation: Guttmacher Institute, New York, NY, USA. asonfi eld@guttmacher.org
authors.forename: Adam
authors.initials: A
authors.lastname: Sonfield
authors.forename: Kathryn
authors.initials: K
authors.lastname: Kost
authors.forename: Rachel Benson
authors.initials: RB
authors.lastname: Gold
authors.forename: Lawrence B
authors.initials: LB
authors.lastname: Finer
mesh_terms: D001723:Birth Rate; D002662:Child Health Services / Q000191:economics*; D002676:Child, Unwanted / Q000706:statistics & numerical data*; D017046:Cost Savings / Q000379:methods*; D005193:Family Planning Services / Q000191:economics*; D005260:Female; D006801:Humans; D007223:Infant; D008427:Maternal Health Services / Q000191:economics*; D008483:Medical Assistance / Q000458:organization & administration*; D011247:Pregnancy; D011275:Pregnancy, Unwanted; D014481:United States