Pregnancy intendedness and pregnancy planning are underexplored topics in persons with psychiatric conditions. Considering the adverse mental health, obstetric and pediatric outcomes of unintended pregnancies, it is of utmost important to gain insight in underlying mechanisms that attribute to impaired pregnancy planning.
In this study, we will start to explore possible underlying mechanisms that attribute to the development of unintended pregnancies in men and women with psychiatric vulnerabilities and their relatives by conducting a survey on mental health symptoms and family planning in the Netherlands. We aim to include at least 150 men, women and relatives and will make use of both quantitative and qualitative methods to assess outcomes of 36 questions.
We will inquire about psychiatric history, reproductive history (including unintended pregnancies), history of sexual health and reproductive coercion in a panel of men and women with (former) psychiatric symptoms and their relatives. In addition, we will inquire about impact of psychiatric symptoms on pregnancy planning, contraceptive use and sexual behavior.
For each outcome, proportions of the total group will be assessed. Socio-economic and cultural factors will be taken into account by performing subgroup analysis for persons of different backgrounds.
With this inquiry, we hope to 1) elucidate any challenges that are experienced by (ex) patients and 2) provide new insights in the relation between psychiatric symptoms and reproductive health. The survey will be followed by focus groups and in-depth interviews, protocols for these follow-up studies will be provided to the committee at a later point in time (they will be designed according to the outcome of the survey and database research).
