Inequities between rural and urban realities: young Hispanic women’s pregnancy intentions and birth outcomes

The present study sought to determine if inequities exist in Hispanic women's pregnancy intentions and birth outcomes by metropolitan status. In the U.S. pregnancy intentions and birth outcomes of young Hispanic women are a significant public health problem as they are often overlooked on health issues such as pregnancy and childbirth. Data were from the 2015 to 2019 National Survey of Family Growth and focused on the first pregnancies of Hispanic women aged 18 to 24 years old who were not pregnant at the time of the interview and answered the nativity question. Multivariable multinomial regression was used to evaluate how metropolitan status affects pregnancy intentions and birth outcomes. Additionally, multivariable multinomial regression was used to evaluate how metropolitan status affects each pregnancy intention-birth outcome combination. There was no significant association solely between metropolitan status and pregnancy intention (i.e. unintended pregnancy). Metropolitan Hispanic women reported more miscarriages than live births. Hispanic women in the suburbs were more likely to miscarry during an intended pregnancy than those in urban. These findings can improve family planning services for rural women by identifying the specific factors that affect pregnancy intentions and developing targeted interventions to reduce unintended pregnancies.