Experiencing family incarceration during childhood: Implications for the next generation

The experience of parental incarceration has been linked to increased risk for developmental and health problems. For children, parental incarceration is associated with further cumulative risk for additional adverse exposures. Most studies on parental incarceration focus on global mental and physical health during childhood, but there is scant research on adults who experienced parental incarceration during childhood. Perinatal stress, especially pregnancy-specific stress, has been linked to pre-term delivery, post-natal depression and child neurological development. This study examines the association between parental incarceration during childhood and pregnancy-specific stress

Pregnancy happiness: implications of prior loss and pregnancy intendedness

Objective: This study aimed to examine the interaction between pregnancy loss and pregnancy intentions on women’s happiness about a subsequent pregnancy. Background: Anxiety about prior loss persist for women, even during subsequent pregnancies. It is unclear from prior research, whether a prior pregnancy loss shapes attitudes towards and feelings about a subsequent birth. Methods: Using data from the 2002–2013 National Survey of Family Growth (NSFG), we used logistic regression analyses to explore the implications of a prior pregnancy loss for happiness about a subsequent pregnancy that ends in a live birth. We compared births classified as on-time, mistimed, unwanted, and ambivalent. Results: Births were more likely to be characterized as on-time if they occurred following a pregnancy loss, and women were less likely to report being happy about a conception if they were ambivalent about the conception and experienced a previous loss. Overall, pregnancy loss alone was not associated with lower levels of happiness about a subsequent birth. Conclusions: Pregnancy loss can be a highly distressing experience, women’s happiness about a subsequent pregnancy is not reduced due to prior pregnancy loss. Future research should explore why women who were ambivalent about pregnancy reported lower levels of happiness following a loss

Implications of neglect and caregiving during childhood for maternal pregnancy spacing

Rapid repeat pregnancies (RRP) are associated with higher risk of adverse outcomes for maternal and child health. Previous research has identified numerous risk factors for RRP, but none have studied the link between maternal adverse childhood experiences (ACEs) and RRP. Our study examines this association, as well as the potential factors that moderate the impact of ACEs in RRP. In a clinic-based sample of 111 women with high levels of childhood adversity on average, those who experienced childhood neglect had more RRP than those who did not. However, this was not true for women who experienced neglect and acted as caregivers during childhood. Further research is needed to explore this interaction and its implications for (1) treatment of childhood neglect and (2) prevention of RRP

Neonatal Intensive Care Unit (NICU) and maternal mental health

Admittance of newborns into a Neonatal Intensive Care Unit (NICU) is a common, though often unexpected, occurrence. Prior research on the psychological impacts of a NICU admittance for new mothers has utilized hospital samples for postpartum depressive symptomology. The current study draws upon a transition to motherhood survey conducted in 2016 of 127 women during pregnancy and following the birth of a first child. Though there were no significant differences in depression scores during pregnancy, multiple regression analyses indicate that women whose infants were admitted to a NICU following birth reported significantly higher postpartum depressive symptomology than women whose infants were not admitted to a NICU. These findings suggest implications for policies and practices that enhance maternal well-being following an infant's NICU admittance

Partner congruence on fertility intentions and values: Implications for birth outcomes

In heterosexual couples, both partners’ intentions to have a baby (or not) are associated with the likelihood of a subsequent birth, yet most studies only measure women’s intentions. Therefore, little is known about the potential association of couple agreement or disagreement on intentions or on such values as importance of parenthood, career, and leisure and the implications for childbearing. The goal of this article is to assess whether couple-level agreement or disagreement in fertility intentions and values are associated with the likelihood of a subsequent birth. Guided by the Theory of Conjunctural Action, we use couple data from two waves of the U.S. National Survey of Fertility Barriers for our analysis. Based on logistic regression analysis, we find that if either partner intends a child, the odds of having a baby within 3 years are higher than if neither partner intends and that the odds are substantially higher when both partners intend a child. Couples in whom both partners and couples in whom only the woman has a high value on career success are less likely to have a baby. Our findings suggest that agreement on fertility intentions is associated with considerably higher birth probability and that values about life domains matter as well. Couple disagreement on intentions and values are related in different ways to birth outcomes depending on which partner holds which value as important. Using data from both partners allows us to examine the patterns of couple agreement, values, and gendered influences related to birth outcomes

A New Way to Estimate the Potential Unmet Need for Infertility Services Among Women in the United States

Background: Fewer than 50% of women who meet the medical/behavioral criteria for infertility receive medical services. Estimating the number of women who both meet the medical/behavioral criteria for infertility and who have pro-conception attitudes will allow for better estimates of the potential need and unmet need for infertility services in the United States. Methods: The National Survey of Fertility Barriers was administered by telephone to a probability sample of 4,712 women in the United States. The sample for this analysis was 292 women who reported an experience of infertility within 3 years of the time of the interview. Infertile women were asked if they were trying to conceive at the time of their infertility experience and if they wanted to have a child to determine who could be considered in need of services. Results: Among U.S. women who have met medical criteria for infertility within the past three years, 15.9% report that they were neither trying to have a child nor wanted to have a child and can be classified as not in need of treatment. Of the 84.9% of infertile women in need of treatment, 58.1% did not even talk to a doctor about ways to become pregnant. Discussion: Even after taking into account that not all infertile women are in need of treatment, there is still a large unmet need for infertility treatment in the United States. Conclusion: Studies of the incidence of infertility should include measures of both trying to have a child and wanting to have a child

A New Way to Estimate the Potential Unmet Need for Infertility Services Among Women in the United States

Background: Fewer than 50% of women who meet the medical/behavioral criteria for infertility receive medical services. Estimating the number of women who both meet the medical/behavioral criteria for infertility and who have pro-conception attitudes will allow for better estimates of the potential need and unmet need for infertility services in the United States. Methods: The National Survey of Fertility Barriers was administered by telephone to a probability sample of 4,712 women in the United States. The sample for this analysis was 292 women who reported an experience of infertility within 3 years of the time of the interview. Infertile women were asked if they were trying to conceive at the time of their infertility experience and if they wanted to have a child to determine who could be considered in need of services. Results: Among U.S. women who have met medical criteria for infertility within the past three years, 15.9% report that they were neither trying to have a child nor wanted to have a child and can be classified as not in need of treatment. Of the 84.9% of infertile women in need of treatment, 58.1% did not even talk to a doctor about ways to become pregnant. Discussion: Even after taking into account that not all infertile women are in need of treatment, there is still a large unmet need for infertility treatment in the United States. Conclusion: Studies of the incidence of infertility should include measures of both trying to have a child and wanting to have a child

Infertility and fertility intentions, desires, and outcomes among US women

BACKGROUND AND OBJECTIVE Little is known about how the experience of infertility or identification as someone with infertility shapes women’s fertility intentions, desires, or birth outcomes. The purpose of this paper is to help fill this gap in knowledge for fertility-intentions research. METHODS Using data from the National Survey of Fertility Barriers (NSFB), we use linear and logistic regression methods to assess how infertility and parity statuses are associated with fertility intentions and desires, as well as how statuses at one point in time predict birth three years later. RESULTS We find that infertility is associated with lower fertility intentions. Women who have experienced infertility and/or identify as a person with infertility, however, express greater desires to have a baby and a higher ideal number of children. Women who meet the medical criteria for infertility are less likely than fecund women to give birth, despite greater desires

A New Way to Estimate the Potential Unmet Need for Infertility Services Among Women in the United States

Background: Fewer than 50% of women who meet the medical/behavioral criteria for infertility receive medical services. Estimating the number of women who both meet the medical/behavioral criteria for infertility and who have pro-conception attitudes will allow for better estimates of the potential need and unmet need for infertility services in the United States. Methods: The National Survey of Fertility Barriers was administered by telephone to a probability sample of 4,712 women in the United States. The sample for this analysis was 292 women who reported an experience of infertility within 3 years of the time of the interview. Infertile women were asked if they were trying to conceive at the time of their infertility experience and if they wanted to have a child to determine who could be considered in need of services. Results: Among U.S. women who have met medical criteria for infertility within the past three years, 15.9% report that they were neither trying to have a child nor wanted to have a child and can be classified as not in need of treatment. Of the 84.9% of infertile women in need of treatment, 58.1% did not even talk to a doctor about ways to become pregnant. Discussion: Even after taking into account that not all infertile women are in need of treatment, there is still a large unmet need for infertility treatment in the United States. Conclusion: Studies of the incidence of infertility should include measures of both trying to have a child and wanting to have a child

Change in Motherhood Status and Fertility Problem Identification: Implications for Changes in Life Satisfaction

Objective: To determine whether the association between changes in life satisfaction and becoming a mother (or not) depends on fertility problem identification status. Background: Evidence and symbolic interactionist theory suggest that, for women who initially perceive a fertility barrier, gaining the valued identity “mother” should be associated with increases and continuing to face a blocked goal (i.e., not becoming a mother) should be associated with decreases in life satisfaction. Method: This study used the nationally representative two-wave National Survey of Fertility Barriers to conduct a change-score analysis with chained multiple imputation. The focal dependent variable was change in life satisfaction. Focal independent variables were Wave 1 life satisfaction, fertility problem identification status, and birth between waves, controlling for stability and change in relationship status, talking to a doctor about how to get pregnant, religiosity, social support, importance of parenthood, importance of leisure, importance of work success, and economic hardship. Results: Among women who perceived a fertility problem at both waves, becoming a mother was associated with increased life satisfaction and not becoming a mother was associated with decreased life satisfaction. Women who gained or lost a fertility problem perception between waves but did not have a live birth experienced a gain in life satisfaction between waves, suggesting the relevance of the duration of fertility problem perception for change in life satisfaction