Aim: To estimate the effect of unintended (unwanted or mistimed) pregnancy on early childhood development in Ecuadorian children aged 3 to 5, participating in the National Health and Nutrition Survey 2018.Methods: We used a design-based doubly robust estimate. First, we used propensity score matching to identify a subsample of children aged 3 to 5 equally likely to come from a desired vs. unintended pregnancy. Then, we used a regression model to explore the relation of maternal pregnancy intentions with early childhood development. Results: Among 1,694 observations representing 162,285 Ecuadorian children, unintended pregnancy associated with developmental delays (odds ratio: 1.56; 95% confidence interval: 1.06; 2.29), after adjusting for the household’s geographic area and income, the father’s perception of the pregnancy, the mother’s marital status, age, ethnicity, educational level, and depressive symptoms, and the child’s age, gender, and daycare/school attendance. Unintended pregnancy was also negatively associated with all four early childhood development index domains, socio-emotional development being the most affected. Discussion: Our doubly robust design found evidence of the relation between the maternal perception of pregnancy and early child development. Addressing this relation to achieve reproductive justice entails considering a wide spectrum of population health and legal interventions to allow adequate access to education, contraception, and safe abortion. Moreover, pre- and postnatal check-ups could screen for unintended pregnancy and provide support accordingly.