comparison of the prevalence and the causes of unwanted pregnancy in women under 35 versus over 35 years

objective: the aim of this study is to compare the incidence of unwanted pregnancies in women under 35 and those over 35 years, compare the results with the previous data, and also to determine the causes of unwanted pregnancies in these women materials and methods: this cross-sectional study (descriptive - analysis) is performed on 400 pregnant women who had referred to the laboratories of shiraz. ten laboratories were randomly selected from different parts of shiraz. the subjects were interviewed during the period of three months they referred for the result of their pregnancy test. questionnaire included demographic information, how to use the methods of contraception, how to treat women with unwanted pregnancies, and the history of pregnancy. the chi-square tests, t-test, and logistic regression were utilized in order to compare two groups of women under 35 and over 35 and also to determine the factors related to unwanted pregnancies. results: in this study, the prevalence of unwanted pregnancies in women under study was 14.7%. the incidence of pregnancy in women under 35 and those over 35 was 13.3% and 33.3%, respectively. the difference between the groups was found to be statistically significant (p=0.01). conclusion: the percentage of unwanted pregnancies has reduced in shiraz and this is indicative of the success of family planning. however the percentage of unwanted pregnancies in women over 35 is still high. due to the fact that these women use unreliable methods training courses should be planned for them.