Educated women are at higher risk of mistimed birth (P & R Vol.2 Issue 3)

Pakistan is currently in the middle of the fertility transition with a drop in fertility from 6 births per women in 1980s to 3.6 births per women in 2017-18. This drop, however, is not as significant in Pakistan as it is in other neighboring countries. Further, recent surveys show that fertility decline has stalled in recent years. A high level of unintended fertility is one major cause of this slow down. An unintended pregnancy is a pregnancy that is reported to have been either unwanted (i.e. pregnancy occurred when no children, or no more children, were desired) or mistimed (i.e. pregnancy occurred earlier than desired). Recent estimates show that around one-fifth of births are unintended (both mistimed and unwanted) in Pakistan. It may represent high unmet need for contraception. At the same time, a nearly universal knowledge of family planning among Pakistani woman signifies a persistent lack of female control over fertility as only 34% of women are currently using any contraceptive method.