💡 Public talks at SUZ: Anna Barbuscia on «Consequences of unplanned births for maternal well-being.»
How do unplanned births affect women's health? – Join us for a public talk by Anna Barbuscia, who will present her recent study using a longitudinal approach to show how unplanned pregnancies can significantly impact mothers’ physical and mental well-being after childbirth.
Upcoming public talk: «Consequences of unplanned births for maternal well-being.»
Guest speaker: Dr. Anna Barbuscia, Ikerbasque Research Fellow at OPIK Research Group, University of Basque Country.
October 14th, 2025, 12:15-13:45 |
The study that will be discussed:
Unplanned births and their effects on maternal Health: Findings from the Constances Cohort
Anna Barbuscia, Ariane Pailhé, Anne Solaz
Published in «Social Science & Medicine», Volume 361, November 2024, 117350
Highlights
- Many unplanned, especially unwanted, births occurred at relatively advanced ages.
- Unplanned births led to greater general health declines compared to planned births.
The health drop was higher among younger women, but they recovered quickly afterward.
The risk of depressive symptoms increased after any kind of birth.
Mental health was not more negatively affected by unplanned compared to planned births.
Abstract
Unplanned births remain relatively common, even in regions with high contraceptive prevalence and accessible abortion services, such as contemporary France. Previous studies have shown that unplanned births can have numerous negative consequences for the well-being of mothers and children, including poorer maternal health behaviors, delayed and insufficient prenatal care, and depression during or immediately after pregnancy. However, these studies do not provide conclusive evidence on whether the observed outcomes are a consequence of unplanned births or of the conditions in which they likely occur. Furthermore, scant attention has been given to other dimensions of maternal well-being, such as physical health.
This study uses longitudinal data from the French Constances Cohort and applies fixed-effects event study models to examine how women's self-rated general health and risk of depressive symptoms are affected in the years following an unplanned birth. Results show that women who had an unplanned birth reported a sudden, significant drop in their general health in the year following the birth, particularly among the youngest, while health outcomes following planned births showed a gradual, slight decrease over the time-period considered. The risk of depressive symptoms increased similarly after birth for both unplanned and planned births. This study contributes to the literature by using a longitudinally constructed measure of unplanned births based on pre-birth fertility intentions, rather than commonly used retrospective measures prone to ex post rationalization. It also distinguishes between unwanted and mistimed births while further examining their consequences on medium-term maternal health.
Open Access link to the study: https://doi.org/10.1016/j.socscimed.2024.117350
We are happy to welcome you all at this session.
Best regards,
Per Block, Marlis Buchmann, Marco Giesselmann, Heinrich Nax, Giuseppe Pietrantuono, Heiko Rauhut, Jörg Rössel, Katja Rost, Mike Shanahan
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