Unintended conception and unwanted fertility in Gondar, Ethiopia.

This is a report on unintended conception and unwanted fertility in Gondar, Northwestern Ethiopia. The purpose of the study was to explore the extent of the problem and to inquire whether there is a need for fertility regulation. To this end, relatively numerous questions on reproductive history of women aged 15-49 have been raised. Results showed that the proportion of abortion to delivery was 0.3984 to 0.6016 and the ratio of unintended conception to intended conception was 0.4043 to 0.5957. The proportion of unwanted fertility to wanted was 0.4099 to 0.5901. Mean desired interpregnancy interval was substantially higher than actual interpregnancy interval. The relatively high rate of abortion, high proportion of unintended conception and unwanted fertility combined with the wide difference between desired interpregnancy interval and current interpregnancy interval all point to the need for a policy that increases the capacity to regulate fertility.