ABSTRACT
OBJECTIVE: to investigate the effects of unplanned pregnancy on maternal health in Turkey. DESIGN: a case-control study. SETTING: a government hospital in Aydin, Turkey. PARTICIPANTS: 314 women in the early postpartum period, selected with a non-probability method. FINDINGS: significantly more women with unplanned pregnancy had physical problems (76.4% vs. 63.7%; p<0.01) and lower haemoglobin levels (11.26±1.27g/dl vs. 11.62±1.27g/dl; p<0.01) compared with women with planned pregnancy. Also, significantly more women with unplanned pregnancy had lower scores for adaptive behaviour in pregnancy (14.78±3.08 vs. 19.19±3.11; p<0.001), felt negative feelings during labour (mean scores on Labour Agentry Scale: 81.03±19.07 vs. 98.64±16.94; p<0.001), felt more severe pain during labour (mean rank: 173.21 vs. 141.79, p<0.001), and were at high risk of depression in the early postpartum period (mean scores on Edinburgh Postpartum Depression Scale: 14.86±6.08 vs. 7.28±4.85; p<0.001) compared with women with planned pregnancy. KEY CONCLUSIONS: unplanned pregnancy has a negative impact on the development of positive behaviour concerning self-care, physical well-being, labour experience, pain in labour and psychological status in the early postpartum period. IMPLICATIONS FOR PRACTICE: midwives and nurses should identify women with unplanned pregnancy at an early stage, and try to decrease the negative effects of unplanned pregnancy on maternal health and to improve prenatal, perinatal and postnatal care.
