Male behaviours towards unplanned pregnancy: experiences of Brazilian low-income women.

摘要

BACKGROUND: Lone women are responsible for a quarter of Brazilian families. The unplanned pregnancy, a strong reality for many young poor women in this country, provokes a strong impact on physical, emotional, socio-economic and family dimensions. RESEARCH QUESTIONS: Do personal characteristics determine the behaviours of males towards unplanned pregnancy? Do the associations between the couple's bond and male behaviours influence attitudes towards unplanned pregnancy? METHODS: This descriptive study was carried out in a low-income community in the City of Sao Paulo, Brazil. A structured form was composed to obtain data from 100 women who have lived out the unplanned pregnancy experience. FINDINGS: Personal characteristics do not appear to determine male behaviours towards unplanned pregnancy. There was a statistically significant difference among men in different types of bonding relationship (married, cohabiting, dating, without bonding) with regard to the following behaviours: attention given duringpregnancy; changes to the type of bond between partners; civil registration of the child by the father; financial support provided by the father and contact with the child. CONCLUSIONS: Bonding and correlated topics are essential in sexual and reproductive healthcare education and promotion. LIMITATIONS: Population sampling was statistically calculated based on community demographic data and the conclusions refer to the estimated parameters of men's behaviours according to women's experiences.