Unplanned Pregnancies Decrease

As awareness of AIDS and other sexually transmitted diseases has increased, the number of unplanned pregnancies among Harvard undergraduates has dropped by 60 percent in the past nine years, according to figures compiled by the University Health Services (UHS).

The number of women with unplanned pregnancies who approach UHS has decreased steadily from 61 women in 1983-84 to 23 last year, according to Nadja B. Gould, a clinical social worker at UHS for 15 years. Ninety-eight percent of these women over the nine-year period have chosen to terminate their pregnancy, Gould said.

Gould said she has kept track of the number of undergraduates who seek counseling for unplanned pregnancies for roughly the past decade.

But it is unclear whether the increased awareness is responsible for the change, or whether pregnant undergraduates are simply avoiding the health services when they seek counseling.

For her part, Gould said this decrease reflects a real change in the number of unwanted pregnancies and not a drop in the number of women seeking pregnancy counseling at UHS. She suggests the decrease may be attributed to efforts at outreach and awareness launched in part by the health services.

"We feel we've seen most of the women who getpregnant," said Gould. "We have a good reputationamongst students]."

She notes that all counseling is completelyconfidential and that University insurance coversthe cost of an abortion if the student chooses tohave one.

Tracy Penland of the Planned Parenthood Leagueof Boston said yesterday she also believes thedecrease has occurred because students are"protecting themselves against HIV and preventingpregnancy in the process."

Gould credits the work of the PeerContraceptive Counselors, who educate first-yearsabout sexually transmitted diseases andcontraception.

First-year proctors have frequently requestedpresentations by the group, Gould said.

And the counselors say an increased awarenessof sexually transmitted diseases on campus, inaddition to a more open-minded student body, areresponsible for the drop in unwanted pregnancies.

"The whole campus is becoming more liberal,"said Anna R. Ackerberg '95, a counselor. "It'smore acceptable to hand out condoms and talk aboutthe problem.