The effects of preconception desires and intentions on pregnancy wantedness

Do preconception intentions to conceive add to the prediction of pregnancy wantedness beyond the effect of preconception desires? This paper addresses that question, using data regarding the most recent pregnancy of 2,299 women respondents to the 2002 U.S. National Survey of Family Growth. We test a structural equation model predicting a woman’s pregnancy wantedness with her preconception desires, her perception of her partner’s preconception desires, and her preconception intentions. In this multivariate setting, preconception intentions do not predict pregnancy wantedness in the overall sample. However, they do predict wantedness in certain demographic contexts. We identify three patterns of change in our model that occur in selected contexts. We then use these patterns to hypothesize three psychosocial mechanisms by which preconception intentions may increase the wantedness of a pregnancy beyond that resulting from the woman’s preconception desires to get pregnant and her perception of her partner’s preconception desires.