The Best Intentions: Unintended Pregnancy and the Well-Being of Children and Families

The project that is the subject of this report was approved by the Governing Board of the National Research Council, whose members are drawn from the councils of the National Academy of Sciences, the National Academy of Engineering, and the Institute of Medicine. The members of the committee responsible for this report were chosen for their special competencies and with regard for appropriate balance.

This report has been reviewed by a group other than the authors according to procedures approved by a Report Review Committee consisting of members of the National Academy of Sciences, the National Academy of Engineering, and the Institute of Medicine.

The Institute of Medicine was chartered in 1970 by the National Academy of Sciences to enlist distinguished members of the appropriate professions in the examination of policy matters pertaining to the health of the public. In this, the Institute acts under both the Academy's 1863 congressional charter responsibility to be an adviser to the federal government and its own initiative in identifying issues of medical care, research, and education. Dr. Kenneth I. Shine is president of the Institute of Medicine.

This project was funded by the Carnegie Corporation of New York, which does not take responsibility for any statements or views expressed; the Robert Wood Johnson Foundation; and the U.S. Public Health Service (specifically the Maternal and Child Health Bureau, the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, the National Institute of Child Health and Human Development, and the Office of Population Affairs).

Additional copies of this Summary are available in limited quantities from:

Division of Health Promotion and Disease Prevention
Institute of Medicine
2101 Constitution Avenue, N.W.
Washington, DC 20418

The complete volume of The Best Intentions: Unintended Pregnancy and the Well-Being of Children and Families, from which this Summary is extracted, is available for sale from the National Academy Press, 2101 Constitution Avenue, N.W., Box 285, Washington, DC 20055. Call 800-624-6242 or 202-334-3313 (in the Washington Metropolitan Area).

Copyright 1995 by the National Academy of Sciences. All rights reserved.

Printed in the United States of America

The serpent has been a symbol of long life, healing, and knowledge among almost all cultures and religions since the beginning of recorded history. The image adopted as a logotype by the Institute of Medicine is based on relief carving from ancient Greece, now held by the Staatlichemuseen in Berlin.

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