The role of pregnancy intention and social support on pregnancy outcome factor [abstract]

Abstract

A previous study examined the relationship between pregnancy intention and social well-being among low-income pregnant women. Post-partum follow-up of the 72 initial participants was attempted by phone, through mass mailing, and through follow-up survey distribution at the WIC clinic. A 51 percent response rate was achieved. Respondents differed from non-respondents only by health insurance status. We examined the relationship between breastfeeding, smoking during pregnancy, smoking after pregnancy, and low birth weight by whether or not the pregnancy was intended. In addition, we examined the relationship between three measures of social well-being (social support, perceived loneliness, and family relationship problems) by breastfeeding status, smoking status during pregnancy, post-partum smoking status, and low birth weight status. We found no significant relationships among the study variables, which may be due to the small sample size. Further study is recommended to examine these relationships.