In the world there are about 121 million pregnancies each year, of which almost half would be unwanted pregnancies. This is confirmed by the latest report from the United Nations Population Fund (UNFPA), which warns that this figure is very high and that it represents a global failure in defending the basic human rights of girls and women.
These unwanted pregnancies affect the lives of women, since they estimate that 60% of all of them end in abortion. However, not all countries have access or are legally permitted to voluntarily terminate pregnancy, so according to the report, 45% of these abortions would be performed unsafely, with the risk of death that this entails and which could be around 5% to 13% of maternal deaths.
The report, titled Making the Invisible Visible: The Need for Action to End the Neglected Unintended Pregnancy Crisis, also indicates that major events around the world, such as the war in Ukraine and other crises, could increase the number of unwanted pregnancies.
This, they explain, is due to an interruption in access to contraceptive methods and an increase in sexual violence. Natalia Kanem, Executive Director of UNFPA, explained that “for affected women, the most life-changing reproductive option, whether to get pregnant or not, is not an option,” said the UNFPA official.
Decision making belongs to women
And it is that they believe that some 257 million women around the world who wish not to become pregnant do not use modern and safe contraceptive methods, in addition to the fact that a quarter feel unable to refuse the demand for sex, as estimated by the data from countries where they have been collected.
Lack of contraceptives, sexual health care, reproductive coercion or sexual violence are factors that increase unwanted pregnancies
But this is not the only thing that contributes to the high number of unwanted pregnancies that occur on the planet, and the report emphasizes that the lack of sexual and reproductive health care, the imperative norms that surround women in many cases , the lack of contraceptives that adapt to the circumstances, reproductive coercion, shame before health services or sexual violence are other key factors.
The report calls on governments and those in charge of health systems to do everything possible to try to prevent unwanted pregnancies. They do this by calling for improved accessibility, acceptability and contraceptive options, while encouraging politicians and community leaders to empower women and girls to make their own affirmative decisions about sex, contraception and motherhood.
“By putting the power to make this critical decision squarely in the hands of women and girls, societies can ensure that motherhood is an aspiration and not an inevitability,” Kanem explained. Doing this could give them decision-making power, that with the right tools and information they would choose whether or not they want to be mothers.
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