HLTH102 Study Guide - Quiz Guide: Postpartum Depression, Due Date, Reproductive Health
22 May 2018
School
Department
Course
Professor
The Physical and Mental Burdens of Unwanted Pregnancies Among University Students
Tutorial Section #: 114
TA’s: Isabella Romano, Sarah Aleyan, and Michael Onah
Due Date: March 19, 2018
Part 1; The most pressing health/wellbeing issue that is present on the University of Waterloo (UW) and other
Canadian university campuses is unwanted pregnancies among students. According to a 2013 study on
Canadian university campuses, 26% of undergraduate students are parents, where over 2 million college-aged
women (age 18-24) become pregnant each year (1). This high percentage of female students who are pregnant
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raises the question: how many of these pregnancies are unwanted? An unwanted pregnancy is defined as a
pregnancy that is not desired by one or both biological parents (1). As many students are participating in
sexual activities (55% of total student population in Canada) and many are not using any form of
contraception (47% of students), many college students have reported to either experiencing or being involved
in unplanned/unwanted pregnancy (12% of sexually active students) (2). Unwanted pregnancies have a
physical, mental, and financial impact on both students and the child that will be born. In a 2013 study of 408
females who had an unwanted pregnancy, 87.7% of participants were diagnosed with impaired mental health
(anxiety, depression, suicidal thoughts) not related to post-partum depression. 74.5% participants had
insufficient money for both child and mother due to pregnancy expenses, and 51.2% of children born were at
a higher risk of substance abuse and problem behaviour (2). As the objective/mission of the UW campus
wellness team is to create opportunities for students to be healthy, well and successful in all realms of their
life’s, the issue of unwanted pregnancies on campus must be addressed immediately to improve the life of
students during their university and later career. As the highest rate of unwanted pregnancy occurs among
college age women, a university setting is the prime target for an intervention to solve this issue (1).
Part 2; The most cost-effective method in handling the unwanted pregnancy issue within university female
students is to open an abortion clinic within the UW health services building and provide specialists in the
field of obstetrics and gynaecology to aid students in terminating unwanted pregnancies. As of March 2018,
there is no abortion/termination of pregnancy services provided by UW health services. In the University of
California San-Francisco report on pregnancy among university students, the biggest issue for students with
an unwanted pregnancy is lack of accessibility to abortion services on university campuses (4). In 2017, the
California senate released bill 320, which require student health centers at all 34 California State University
and University of California campuses to make the abortion pill available for women who request it (4). It is
predicted that after this bill is enacted in summer 2018, over 200,000 female students will use abortion
services on campuses across the state (4). This data shows that if campuses opens such abortion clinics, many
students with unwanted pregnancies will use their service to get safe and accessible abortion services
(university is not wasting money by opening a clinic). The most cost-effective and safe/painless method of
abortion is a 2-part non- surgical method consisting of using mifepristone and misoprostol, within the 10
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