Unplanned pregnancies leaving women anxious and stressed

On Sunday (26 th September) it’s World Contraceptive Day which aims to help spread the word and raise awareness
about contraception and safe sex ensuring the new generation of adults make informed decisions so that every
pregnancy in the world is a planned one. However, according to new research over a third of women (36%) have
had an unplanned pregnancy.

This new research, has in fact found that getting pregnant has happened to 6% of those between 30-39, 17% of
those between 20 and 29 and even more concerningly 12% of those under the age of 20.

According to the research this has had drastic impacts on many women’s life, with a quarter (25%) choosing to
have an abortion as they didn’t want a baby. Over a fifth (22%) were also left with heightened anxiety and stress
which is unsurprising given that 14% also said it led to tensions with parents (14%) and even led some to end their
relationship (12%). For 1 in 10 it also had a negative impact on their career.

Aston spoke to Dr Sarah Jarvis.