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The Nature and Extent of Unintended Births among Couples in Ghana

Ellen Mabel Osei-Tutu

Most studies on pregnancy and its related issues are based on data obtained from only women. To fill this gap, this study focused on couples. This study was undertaken to estimate the level of unintended births between couples, identify the characteristics of couples with unintended births and establish the differences between wives and husbands with regards to unintended births. Couples’ data from the 2014 Ghana Demographic and Health Survey were used. It consisted of 1,771 couples. Binomial logistic regression analyses were used to examine the relationship between wives and husbands’ characteristics and unintended births, using two estimates (children ever born and number of living children) of unintended births. Generally, using number of children ever born provided lower estimates of unintended births than using number of living children. Binomial logistic regression analyses showed that as age increased, unintended births reduced. Also, the longer couples had been in marriage, the lower they experienced unintended births. Wives had lower unintended births than husbands. The results of this study indicate that unintended births estimated using responses from wives only could be lower than that which uses couples. It is more appropriate to estimate fertility intentions using responses from couples.