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Unintended pregnancy is associated with increased risk for adverse neonatal and early childhood outcomes spanning an array of indicators, but it remains unclear whether these risks hold independent of other biological, social and environmental risk factors.

This study uses data from the first wave of the ‘Growing Up in Ireland Study’, a large nationally representative cohort study of more than 11 000 infants, to examine the risk factors associated with unintended pregnancy. Adopting a staged approach to the analysis, the study investigates whether pregnancy intention influences maternal health behaviours during pregnancy independent of background characteristics, and whether pregnancy intention carries any additional risk for adverse infant and maternal health outcomes when we adjust for background characteristics and prenatal behaviours.

The study confirmed that …