الفهرس 
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Abstract
: About 25% of pregnancies and births in Egypt are unplanned. Emergency contraception (EC) is a critical tool to reduce unwanted pregnancy after unprotected intercourse. Aim of study: to assess the knowledge and concerns of married women in reproductive age regarding emergency contraception and their acceptability of unplanned pregnancy. Subjects and Methods: The study was conducted in Elhadary Health Care Center in Ehnasia village, Beni-Suef governorate using a cross-sectional descriptive design on a sample of 300 married women in reproductive age. A structured interview questionnaire form was used to measure their knowledge of EC, related attitudes, and concerns regarding unplanned pregnancy. Results: Women’s median age was 30.0 years, mostly gravida 2-3 (52.3%), and 27.0% had previous unplanned pregnancies. Only 52.7% had satisfactory knowledge of EC, 56.0% had a related positive attitude, and in 92.3% of them the pregnancy was unplanned. The scores of knowledge and attitude correlated positively with planned pregnancy (r=0.140 and r=0.682 respectively). Women and husbands’ higher education and their good obstetric history positively predicted their scores of knowledge, attitude, and planned pregnancy. Conclusion and Recommendations: Women’s knowledge of EC and related attitude are suboptimal, with higha rate of unplanned pregnancies. Promotion of women’s knowledge of unplanned pregnancies and EC and related attitudes is recommended through counseling and educational programs. Further research is proposed to examine the effect of educational programs on the utilization of EC and unplanned pregnancies.
Keywords: Emergency Contraception (EC), Knowledge, Attitude, Unplanned Pregnancy.