Updated Methodology to Estimate Overall and Unintended Pregnancy Rates in the United States
Advanced Search
Select up to three search categories and corresponding keywords using the fields to the right. Refer to the Help section for more detailed instructions.

Search our Collections & Repository

For very narrow results

When looking for a specific result

Best used for discovery & interchangable words

Recommended to be used in conjunction with other fields

Dates

to

Document Data
Library
People
Clear All
Clear All

For additional assistance using the Custom Query please check out our Help Page

i

Updated Methodology to Estimate Overall and Unintended Pregnancy Rates in the United States

Filetype[PDF-1.21 MB]


English
Details You May Also Like

Details:

  • Personal Author:
  • Corporate Authors:
    National Center for Health Statistics (U.S.)
  • Description:
    Background: Historically, the National Center for Health Statistics (NCHS) has published estimated pregnancy rates in the United States, with the most recent estimates published for 2010. Pregnancy rates are calculated from three components: live births, pregnancy losses (miscarriage or spontaneous abortion, ectopic pregnancy, and stillbirth), and induced abortions. Some of the data sources used to estimate these components have limitations with respect to factors such as data timeliness and completeness. Alternative ways of accounting for these limitations by using additional data sources and statistical methods for imputing missing data may improve the accuracy and timeliness of pregnancy rate estimates.

    Methods: This report describes an updated methodology to estimate overall and unintended pregnancy rates for the United States during 2010–2019, and examines differences by demographic factors. Machine learning models were used to impute missing information on induced abortions, and data integration methods were used to combine estimates of abortions, live births, and pregnancy losses to produce estimates of the total numbers of pregnancies occurring during 2010–2019 and corresponding pregnancy rates, along with outcomes related to unintended pregnancy.

    Results: An estimated 6,069,000 pregnancies in 2010 in females aged 15–44 occurred in 2010, declining by 9% to 5,507,000 in 2019. The overall pregnancy rate (estimated number of pregnancies per 1,000 females aged 15–44) was 97.3 in 2010, declining by 12% to 85.6 in 2019. The percentage of pregnancies that were unintended declined from 43.3% in 2010 to 41.6% in 2019.

    Conclusions: More recent and timely estimates of overall and unintended pregnancy rates can help inform policies and programs to decrease the percentage of unintended pregnancies and are crucial for tracking reproductive health outcomes in the United States.

    Suggested citation: Rossen LM, Hamilton BE, Abma JC, Gregory ECW, Beresovsky V, Resendez AV, et al. Updated methodology to estimate overall and unintended pregnancy rates in the United States. National Center for Health Statistics. Vital Health Stat 2(201). 2023. DOI: https://dx.doi.org/10.15620/cdc:124395.

  • Source:
    Vital and Health Statistics Series
  • Series:
    Series 2
  • Document Type:
    Report
  • Genre:
    Statistics
  • Place as Subject:
    United States
  • CIO:
    NCHS - National Center for Health Statistics
  • Volume:
    2
  • Issue:
    201
  • Collection(s):
  • Main Document Checksum:
  • Download URL:
  • File Type:

Supporting Files

  • No Additional Files
More +

You May Also Like

Checkout today's featured content at stacks.cdc.gov