Abstract
Background: Pregnancy is a natural process that in the vast majority of cases proceeds without complications. To make sure that mother and child are doing well during the 40 weeks of pregnancy, there is a network of preventive medical check-ups that every pregnant woman can take advantage of. However, the time of the first pregnancy is influenced by many factors, either health related issues or other social and personal considerations.
Methods: This was an analytical cross-sectional study to spot light on average interval between the marriage and the first pregnancy among Saudi women population. The study was carried out at universities, hospitals and malls in KSA. Data were collected from patients and general population at November 2021.
Results: From the 754 selected women, the most common age group at which marriage occurred was 23-25 years (n=240, 31.8%). The most frequent time of first pregnancy was during the first three months immediately after marriage (n=195, 25.9%). However, the longest period at which first pregnancy occurred was after 5 years from marriage (n=11, 1.5%). There were 192 participants (25.5%) who had menstrual irregularities, 399 participants (53 %) were using different kinds of contraception, 84 participants (11.1%) had previous miscarriage for at least one time, consanguinity was present among 191 participants (25.3%), and a small percentage of women had problems with infertility from the husband side (n=34, 4.5%).
Conclusion: Nearly one fourth of the selected sample of women had their first child during the first three months immediately after marriage.