Background:
Worldwide, almost two in five women who become pregnant have either an abortion or an unplanned birth. In the United States, about half of all pregnancies are unintended of which 42% end in abortion. Moreover, about 40% of those having an unintended pregnancy had repeated experiences. While contraceptive non-use or misuse proved to be significantly associated with the occurrence of an unintended pregnancy, very little is known about factors associated with the repetition of such experience.

Objectives:
Understand the characteristics of women who experienced an unintended pregnancy and initiated the contraception use postpartum.

Methods:
The 2000-2004 Michigan PRAMS data were used to identify women whose pregnancy was defined as unintended and reported non-use of contraception prior to conception. Based on their postpartum contraception behavior, the study cohort was further divided in late contraceptors (initiated the contraception use postpartum) and persistent non-contraceptors (non users prior to and after pregnancy). We compared the two groups by using different statistical methods, including logistic regression.

Results:
Women who experienced an unintended pregnancy and reported initiating contraception in postpartum were between twenty and thirty-four years of age (73.6%), White (71.9%), having a high school level of education (35.4%) and had private insurance/HMO prenatal (47.2%). Using logistic regression models, we will identify factors that are associated with initiating contraception in postpartum.

Conclusion and implications for practice:
The far-reaching consequences that an unintended pregnancy is likely to pose for women, families, and society at large may be magnified if such an experience is repeated. Besides education to increase the use and adherence to contraception, efforts must include finding and recommending forms of contraception that better meet a woman's needs.