A study to evaluate the Infant Nutrition amongst desired and undesired pregnancy

Abstract

Background: The current study was conducted to investigate the relationship between unwanted pregnancy based on couples’ opinions and infant nutrition type in women and their husbands. Materials and Methods: In this analytical-descriptive study, unwanted or wanted progenies were studied  from the viewpoints of 366 women and their husbands; and also their relationships with infant nutrition type at the age of 4 months. The data were collected through questionnaires. The validity and reliability of the method and instruments were confirmed by content validity and test-retest. Moreover, data analysis was done using SPSS-11.0 software. Results: The average age of women in wanted pregnancy was 26.43±4.57 years and 27.57±5.22 years in unwanted women. The results showed a statistically significant relationship between unwanted pregnancy from the viewpoints of couples and infant's nutritional status (P=0.03). The prevalence of unwanted pregnancy in women with lower education (middle and high school) was higher than those with higher education. Conclusion: Our results showed a significant association between baby’s nutrition and unwanted pregnancy. Furthermore, an increased use of non-exclusive breastfeeding in unwanted pregnancy is necessary. Hence, proper use of contraceptive methods, preventing the adverse consequences of unwanted pregnancy such as non-exclusive breastfeeding, useful educational strategies, counseling and health services are necessary to be taken into account.