title: Unintended pregnancy amongst an early pregnancy clinic cohort: Identifying opportunities for preventative health interventions.
abstract: BACKGROUND
  A relationship between maternal weight and unintended pregnancy has previously been reported. Researchers have found women who are overweight and obese women are less likely to use contraception, and more likely to have unplanned pregnancies, thus limiting their ability to optimise their health before conception.
  
  
  OBJECTIVE
  This study sought to examine the relationship between pregnancy intention and body mass index (BMI) amongst women attending a service managing early pregnancy complications.
  
  
  METHODS
  The cross-sectional descriptive study (n = 550) was conducted from November 2013 to February 2015 in Sydney, Australia. It documented women's pregnancy intention using a self-completed questionnaire incorporating a validated pregnancy intention scale and measuring women's height and weight to calculate their BMI using the WHO classification of anthropometry and adjusting for cut-offs in Asian populations. Socio-demographic characteristics were also documented.
  
  
  RESULTS
  The respondents were ethnically diverse with over a third defining themselves as Asian (36%; 196). Forty-four per cent of women (239) had clearly intended their pregnancy, 39% (212) were ambivalent and 18% (99) had not intended to conceive. Forty-nine per cent (263) of women were overweight or obese. No relationship was found between pregnancy intention and BMI.
  
  
  CONCLUSIONS
  Fewer than half the women with early pregnancy complications clearly intended to be pregnant. Contrary to previous research, pregnancy intention was not associated with maternal weight. Underutilised opportunities for lifestyle and preconception education exist to address the impact of modifiable maternal behaviours on future pregnancies and to provide contraception counselling to those not wishing to conceive.
authors.affiliation: RPA Women and Babies, Royal Prince Alfred Hospital, Camperdown, NSW, Australia.|Discipline of Obstetrics Gynaecology and Neonatology, The University of Sydney, Sydney, NSW, Australia.
authors.forename: Kate
authors.initials: K
authors.lastname: Cheney
authors.affiliation: The Charles Perkins Centre, The University of Sydney, Sydney, NSW, Australia.
authors.forename: Kyra A
authors.initials: KA
authors.lastname: Sim
authors.affiliation: Sydney Local Health Department, Clinical Research Centre, Royal Prince Alfred Hospital, Camperdown, NSW, Australia.
authors.forename: Mario
authors.initials: M
authors.lastname: D'souza
authors.affiliation: RPA Women and Babies, Royal Prince Alfred Hospital, Camperdown, NSW, Australia.
authors.forename: Marilena
authors.initials: M
authors.lastname: Pelosi
authors.affiliation: RPA Women and Babies, Royal Prince Alfred Hospital, Camperdown, NSW, Australia.|Discipline of Obstetrics Gynaecology and Neonatology, The University of Sydney, Sydney, NSW, Australia.
authors.forename: Kirsten I
authors.initials: KI
authors.lastname: Black
mesh_terms: D000293:Adolescent; D000328:Adult; D015992:Body Mass Index; D003430:Cross-Sectional Studies; D005260:Female; D006293:Health Promotion; D006801:Humans; D033182:Intention; D008019:Life Style; D008875:Middle Aged; D009765:Obesity / Q000208:ethnology / Q000523:psychology*; D016742:Preconception Care; D011247:Pregnancy; D049168:Pregnancy, Unplanned / Q000208:ethnology / Q000523:psychology*; D011322:Primary Prevention; D011795:Surveys and Questionnaires; D055815:Young Adult
keywords: body mass index; early pregnancy loss; obesity; pregnancy