The predictability of fertility planning status.

For any couple, the planning status of a pregnancy (what they intended, whether they used contraception, and whether they were successful) is strongly dependent on the planning status of their preceding pregnancy. The introduction of more acceptable and effective methods of fertility regulation has, however, attenuated the strength of these relationships. The patterns of continuity and change in planning status from pregnancy to pregnancy provide a parsimonious description of reproductive behavior over the course of the life cycle and of the major trends in planning in the recent past.