The association between women's climate change anxiety, awareness of maternal-fetal health impacts, and their desire to avoid pregnancy.

INTRODUCTION

Climate change affects maternal and fetal health negatively. Climate change affects not only women’s efforts to protect their health but also their climate anxiety. Uncertainty about the future, in particular, could affect women’s choices to have children as well as their fertility intentions. This study aims to examine the associations between women's climate change anxiety, awareness of maternal–fetal health impacts of climate change, and their desire to avoid pregnancy.

METHODS

This study used a descriptive and cross-sectional design. It was conducted with 365 women who sought treatment in the family planning clinic affiliated with a maternity hospital between March 3 and May 30, 2025. Data were collected by meeting the participants face-to-face, using the Personal Information Form, the Desire to Avoid Pregnancy Scale, the Pregnancy-Specific Climate Change Awareness Scale, and the Climate Change Women's Anxiety Scale. The data obtained were analyzed using univariate and multivariate tests. FINDINGS: The average age of women was 28.17 ± 4.30 years. It was found that 66.6% used family planning methods, 61.4% believed that climate change led to negative consequences, and 36.4% reportedly postponed pregnancy due to climate change. A positive relationship was found between avoiding pregnancy and awareness of climate change (r = 0.133, p = 0.011) and anxiety level (r = 0.201, p < 0.001).

CONCLUSION

Increased climate anxiety in women was found to predict pregnancy avoidance. Although higher awareness of climate change effects on maternal and fetal health increased the desire to avoid pregnancy, it was not a determining factor.