Factors associated with pregnancy desire among adolescent women in five Latin American countries: a multilevel analysis.

OBJECTIVE: To explore demographic, socio-economic, and reproductive factors associated with pregnancy desire among adolescents in five Latin American countries. DESIGN: Secondary analysis using nationally representative, cross-sectional data from UNICEF Multiple Indicator Cluster Surveys (MICS). SETTING: Cuba, the Dominican Republic, El Salvador, Mexico, and Panama. POPULATION: Adolescents 15-19 years old who were pregnant or mothers (n = 4207). METHODS: Chi-square tests, simple linear regressions, and multilevel Poisson regression models were used to estimate associations between individual- and country-level factors associated with pregnancy desire among adolescents. MAIN OUTCOME MEASURES: Desire for pregnancy among adolescents who were pregnant or had given birth in the last 2 years. RESULTS: The proportion of adolescents who reported they desired their last pregnancy ranged from 79.3% in Cuba to 37.6% in Panama; approximately half the adolescents in Mexico, El Salvador, and the Dominican Republic desired their last pregnancy. The multilevel analysis shows that pregnancy desire was more likely among adolescent women who were less educated [prevalence ratio (PR) = 0.97, 95% confidence interval (CI) 0.96-0.98], older (PR = 1.39, 95% CI 1.04-1.09), married or cohabiting with a partner (PR = 0.70, 95% CI 0.53-0.93), and had low parity (PR = 0.67, 95% CI 0.58-0.76). CONCLUSIONS: Adolescents with less education, who are older, married or cohabiting, and with low parity were more likely to desire their pregnancy. These data constitute evidence that, in conjunction with qualitative and implementation research, can be used to better design services for adolescents so they can exercise their sexual and reproductive rights, and plan healthier and more satisfying futures. FUNDING: All the databases used on the performance of this study are open access. We did not receive any funding for the present analysis. TWEETABLE ABSTRACT: Parity and marital status showed the strongest association with adolescent pregnancy desire in five Latin American countries.

[Labor trajectories and reproductive behavior: a comparison between Mexico and Spain]. / Trayectorias laborales y reproductivas: una comparacion entre Mexico y Espana.

PIP: Data from the 1987 Mexican National Survey of Fertility and Health and the fertility survey carried out by Spain's National Institute of Statistics in 1985 were the basis for a comparison of the fertility histories and labor force participation of women of different cohorts in the two countries. Both surveys included questions on employment before marriage, between marriage and the birth of the first child, and at the present time. Eight combinations were possible, including continuous employment in all three periods and no history of employment in any period. The survey populations included women ever married or in union, with at least one live-born child, and aged between 15 and 49 years for Mexico and 18 and 49 years in Spain. Economic conditions in Mexico and Spain are dissimilar, and women's labor force participation patterns have varied as well. The Mexican survey indicated a current labor force participation rate of 37% for women aged 20-49. 42% of women aged 30-39 were employed. In Spain, 43% of women aged 18-49 were economically active. Around 60% of widowed, divorced, separated, and single women were employed. In Mexico, 38.2% of respondents had not worked in any of the three periods, 20.4% had worked in all three, and 17/7% had worked only before the first marriage or union. 61.5% of Mexican respondents had worked in at least one of the three periods. The cohort born in 1957-61 appears to be transitional to a pattern in which work outside the home assumes greater importance. In Spain, 31.3% of respondents had worked only before the first marriage or union, 24.8% had never worked, and 23.7% had worked in all three periods. 75.2% had worked in at least one of the three periods. The older Spanish cohorts had lower rates of labor force participation and the younger cohorts tendered to have higher activity rates, combining motherhood and outside employment to a greater extent. The cohort aged 25-29 at the time of the survey, which had a high proportion of women working continuously in the three periods and an intense activity rate at the time of the survey, appeared to be the transitional cohort between traditional and modern lifestyles. Thus, in both countries the cohorts aged 25-29 were those which managed to combine childbearing with employment to the greatest extent. In both Mexico and Spain,, the women within the cohort aged 25-29 with the highest activity rates were those with higher levels of education and those living in larger cities.^ieng