What is a Crisis Pregnancy?
A crisis pregnancy is defined as ‘a pregnancy which is neither planned nor desired by the woman concerned, and which represents a personal crisis for her.’ This includes women for whom a planned or desired pregnancy develops into a crisis over time due to a change in circumstances.
Crisis pregnancy facts and figures: are based on findings from the Irish Contraception and Crisis Pregnancy [ICCP] Study, a nationally representative study that examined issues surrounding crisis pregnancy in Ireland. The ICCP study was published in 2004.
It found that:
Crisis pregnancy is a common experience in Ireland
28% of women who had experienced pregnancy reported experiencing crisis pregnancy, while 23% of men who had experienced a partner becoming pregnant reported experiencing a crisis pregnancy.
Crisis pregnancy affected all types of people
65% of people were in a steady relationship, married or engaged at the time the crisis pregnancy occurred, while 24% were in a casual relationship.
Reasons for a pregnancy being a crisis
The most common reason for a pregnancy being seen as a crisis was that it was not planned. Being too young or not married were other common reasons. Relationship difficulties, not wanting the baby or being fearful of a negative reaction from their families were other common reasons.
Age at which crisis pregnancies happened
The mean age for the occurrence of crisis pregnancy is 23 years for women and 24 for men.
How crisis pregnancies were usually resolved
Of the women who recounted their experience of a crisis pregnancy, 75% gave birth, (of these, 1% had the baby adopted, 57% reared the child with its father and 38% reared the child alone), 15% had an abortion, 6% had a miscarriage, 1% a stillbirth and 3% were still pregnant.
For an overview of the HSE Crisis Pregnancy Programme’s research on crisis pregnancy see the Research into Practice leaflet – Research on Crisis Pregnancy for Crisis Pregnancy Counsellors: http://www.crisispregnancy.ie/pub/cou.pdf
To download a copy of the Irish Contraception and Crisis Pregnancy [ICCP] Study: http://www.crisispregnancy.ie/pub/Repseven.pdf
