Contraception, unintended pregnancy and induced abortion in Russia : Evidence from the Reproductive Health Survey 2011

In 2011 the first nationally representative Women Reproductive Health Survey (RHS) was realized in Russia by the Russian Ministry of Health, the Rosstat (Russian Federation) and the CDC (USA). According to the data provided by this survey almost 37% of respondents reported their last pregnancy as unplanned; either mistimed (18.4%) or unwanted (18.3%). Pregnancies were more often reported as mistimed by respondents aged 15-24 (29%) or with no children (43.5%), whereas women aged 35-44 (33%) or those who had two or more children (23%) more often considered their pregnancies as unwanted.
Planning status had a strong correlation with pregnancy outcome: 31% of mistimed and 62% of unwanted pregnancies occurred in 2006-2001 ended in induced abortion. As few as 3% of unwanted and 13% of mistimed pregnancies resulted in a live-birth.
Almost every second pregnancy (47%) ended in induced abortion in 2006-2011 was a result of a contraceptive failure, and two thirds of these pregnancies occurred when women used any modern method of contraception.
On the base of individual data provided by the WRHS the authors will try to throw light upon the behavioral, social and economic factors of the fertility intentions and contraception choice in present-day Russia.