to take emergency
contraceptives
Teenage pregnancy is one of the most unfavourable and usually unplanned outcomes of adolescents' sexual activity. Teens are initiated to engage in unprotected sex early in life so that they are exposed to young parenthood. Many teens that become pregnant have to leave school; this has a long-term implication for them as individual, their family and their community. The prevalence of sexual activity in this study was 124 (22.1%). This finding is consistent with studies conducted among school adolescents of two towns of Ethiopia: Gondar (23.5%) and Nekemt (21.5%). However, slightly lower than the findings from Ethiopian Demographic and Health Survey (EDHS 2011) report and a study conducted among school adolescents of Ilorin, Nigeria. The findings in these studies were 24.2% and 28.2% respectively ( 20 – 21 ). The discrepancy may be due to methodological variations: EDHS included adolescents in the community whereas this study focused only on high school adolescents. Furthermore, Socio-cultural difference is there with the case of Ilorin, Nigeria. Although the Ethiopian government has been working on sexual and reproductive health issues with especial focus on the youth (including teenagers) in schools and community at large, the current study has shown that a high number of school teenagers were practicing sexual intercourse and are still at risk of teenage pregnancy.
The overall prevalence of teenage pregnancy in this study was 43(7.7%). This finding is comparable with the finding from EDHS 2011 report of Southern Ethiopia Region which was 7.9% (20).
The prevalence of teenage pregnancy among sexually active students in this study was 34.7%. This finding is comparable to the national figure reported by EDHS in which 34% of women were either mothers or pregnant with their first child by the age of 19 ( 20 ). The fiding in the current study a study is also inlines with the finding in Nigeria where 31.6% of adolescents who ever had sex experienced teenage pregnancy. However, it is much higher than the study conducted in the same country in Ilorin, Central Nigeria, among high school adolescents in which case only 5.7% of those sexually active female students had experienced teenage pregnancy ( 21 ). These variations may be due to the difference in age range of study populations as the study in Nigeria included adolescents of 10–19 years old whereas this study included those in the age range of 15–19 years (the probability of being pregnant is higher in the late adolescence stage than in early adolescence stage).
Regarding the factors contributing to teenage pregnancy, students from grades 11 and 12 were more likely to become pregnant compared to the students from grades 9 and 10. This finding is comparable with studies conducted in USA and Nekemt, Ethiopia, among school adolescents. In these studies, the prevalence of teenage pregnancy was generally increasing with increasing grade level (grades 9–12)( 19 , 22 ). Other studies reported the inverse relationship between educational attainment and teenage pregnancy rate-the more years of schooling, the fewer early pregnancies ( 7 , 23 , 24 ). However, the finding from this study contradicts this-adolescents in higher grade levels, 11 th and 12 th , were significantly more likely to experience pregnancy than those in grades 9 and 10. This might be due to the longer stay at school, the higher exposure and probability of getting sexual relation among higher grade level students than lower grade students.
Substance is a gateway for risky sexual behaviours among adolescents which results in teenage pregnancy with consequent health and social implications. Because it constitutes a deviation from conventional behaviour, it is regarded as problem behaviour ( 25 ). Adolescents who used substance (alcohol/chat/cigarette) were more likely to experience teenage pregnancy compared to those who did not use. This finding is supported by the finding from a systematic review from the European Union Countries and a study conducted in South Africa which revealed that substance use was significantly associated with teenage pregnancy ( 26 – 27 ). This could be attributed to substance use or being under the influence of substance may influence the adolescent students to unrealistically appraise the situation and also impair their verbal as well as physical resistance against unprotected sexual intercourse. Hence, the risk of teenage pregnancy is high.
The fact that having knowledge of the exact time when to take contraceptives prevents unwanted pregnancy is strongly supported by the finding from this study. The probability of experiencing pregnancy among those who know the exact time of emergency contraceptives was about 6%, but it was 10% for those who do not know. The odds of being pregnant was about three times much higher among adolescents who do not know the exact time when to take emergency contraceptives than among their counterparts. According to the report by WHO, lack of knowledge about sex and family planning and lack of skills to put that knowledge into practice put adolescents at risk of pregnancy ( 7 ).
In this study, the risk of teenage pregnancy among adolescents who were living with either of biological parents and neither of their biological parents was higher as compared to those who were living with both biological parents. This result is in line with studies conducted among adolescents in Mechakal District, Ethiopia, a study from USA and a WHO report which showed that living with both biological parents has a protective effect on the occurrence of teenage pregnancy ( 17 , 28 – 29 ). The reason could be that teens that live with biological parents are guided and get support and follow-up from their families so that they are under fence of protection that minimizes their chance of exposure to sexual experiences. Moreover, biological parents are highly responsible for their children's adoption of safer behaviours.
Parents play a critical role in the growth, development and sexual socialization of their children. Parental involvement through parent-child sexual communication presents education about sex and reproductive health to young people. Moreover, it promotes adolescents' selfesteem, transfer of sexual values, beliefs, information and expectations to their children with the aim of influencing sexual behaviours, attitudes and decision-making of their children to prevent risky behaviours and teenage pregnancy ( 30 – 33 ).
In this study, adolescents who were living in poor parent-daughter interaction conditions regarding issues of sexuality, love and pregnancy were 3.7 times more likely to experience pregnancy compared to those who lived under good parent-daughter interaction conditions. This finding is supported by a study in conducted British Columbia which reported that parent-daughter interaction concerning sexuality and reproductive health was significantly associated with teenage pregnancy ( 34 ). The possible explanation could be that female students who have good parent-daughter interaction may get good opportunity to have free discussion about sexuality and reproductive health issues thereby transfer of life skill is possible to protect themselves from teenage pregnancy.
Our study has limitations. From the very nature of the study, it assesses personal and sensitive issues related to sexual behaviours which might have caused underreporting of teenage pregnancy experiences. Thus, the findings of this study should be interpreted within these limitations.
In conclusion, the prevalence of teenage pregnancy among school adolescents is high to cause reproductive health and socio-economic challenges to adolescents in the study area. Being 11 th and 12 th grade student, substance use, not knowing the exact time to take emergency contraceptives, living arrangement and poor parent-daughter interaction were found to be significant predictors of teenage pregnancy. Special emphasis particularly in the areas of parent-daughter communication on the issues of sexuality and reproductive health, benefits of contraceptive use, and risk of substance use (alcohol, chat and cigarette smoking) are recommended.
We are very thankful to Jimma University College of Public Health and Medical Sciences for the financial support. Our special thanks go to the study participants for their response and time to complete the questionnaire. Last but not least, we would like to thank the school directors of Arba Minch Town for arranging time and place for data collection.
COMMENTS
Teenage pregnancy is the pregnancy of 10- to 19-year-old girls [ 1 ]. Adolescents are further divided into early (10-14 years old), middle (15-17 years old), and late adolescents (over 17 years old) [ 2 ]. According to the World Health Organization, adolescent pregnancies are a global problem for both developed and developing countries.
1. Introduction. The United Nations Population Fund (UNFPA) estimated that 16 million adolescent women between 15 and 19 years old and 2 million under 15 years old become pregnant or give birth each year [].Teenage pregnancy increases the risk of maternal mortality, delivery complications, obstructed labor, systemic infections, stillbirth, premature birth, and severe neonatal complications [2 ...
Although the teen birth rate declined 64% between 1991 and 2015 from 61.8 to 22.3 per 1,000 female adolescents aged 15-19 years [], the United States continues to have one of the highest teen pregnancy rates among developed nations [], and racial/ethnic and geographic disparities in teen birth rates persist [3,4].Because of the high rates and persistent disparities in teen births, teen ...
Methods. We undertook a three part systematic review of the research evidence on social disadvantage and pregnancy in young people by using an innovative method we developed previously for integrating qualitative and quantitative research.22 23 The first part of the review focused on quantitative controlled trials and was designed to assess the impact on teenage conceptions of interventions ...
Background Risk factors for teenage pregnancy are linked to many factors, including a family history of teenage pregnancy. This research examines whether a mother's teenage childbearing or an older sister's teenage pregnancy more strongly predicts teenage pregnancy. Methods This study used linkable administrative databases housed at the Manitoba Centre for Health Policy (MCHP). The ...
One of the major social and public health problems in the world is adolescent pregnancy. Adolescent pregnancy is strongly associated to less favorable results for both the mother and the newborn. We conducted this research to ascertain the impact of teenage age on neonatal outcomes and also observed the lifestyles of pregnant teenage girls. We conducted a study of 2434 mothers aged ≤19 years ...
Background: Teenage pregnancy rates are falling in many high-resource settings, but for those who do conceive, the socioeconomic and educational disadvantage that ensues is often long lasting and intergenerational. The adverse maternal and neonatal outcomes can be ameliorated through antenatal and postnatal care that attends to the special needs of this group.
The scientific literature underscores that multiple factors interact to influence adolescent sexual behavior, which may result to adolescent pregnancy. Understanding these factors with adolescent childbearing allows for a broader perspective and prevents simplistic thinking on a complex phenomenon. Key words: adolescent pregnancy, teen ...
The study examined the strengths and weaknesses of the more prominent explanations of adolescent pregnancy and childbearing in light of current research. The success of health, school, and government programs designed to deal with adolescentpregnancy is in largepart contingent on the theoretical assumptions on which these programs are based.
Similarly, previous research has shown that most healthcare providers view adolescent pregnancy and parenting as a challenging public health issue. Citation 13 , Citation 21 Adolescent repeat pregnancy is defined as two or more pregnancies for an adolescent woman before she is 20 years of age.
This paper contributes to understanding of the broader topic "who is influential about what" within the family. The teenage pregnancy risk seen in younger sisters when older sisters had a teenage pregnancy appears based on the interaction with that sister and her child; the family environment experienced by the siblings is quite similar.
Abstract. Teen preg nanc y is a social problem not resolved in developing and some developed countries. Adolescent fecundity has become the most exact bio-demographic and health indicator of ...
In the USA, '7.2% received no care at all' (Weiss, 2011 ). Some reasons for lack of care are teen denial of the pregnancy and fear of telling parents. Very young teens have a higher chance of pregnancy and birth complications. So do teens who smoke, since birth weights are lower for smoking mothers.
Abstract. Teenage pregnancy has been a societal problem over the last decades in various provinces in the Philippines. These incidents categorically hampered teenagers' lives as they affected ...
The research participants will be selected through purposive sampling among extreme cases who have the tendency and ability to express their experience of health practices. ... Alio AP, Salihu HM. Joint effect of obesity and teenage pregnancy on the risk of preeclampsia: a population-based study. J Adolesc Health. 2010;46(1):77-82. Article ...
Contraceptive use, educational factors, depression, and a history of abortion are the highly influential predictors of repeated teenage pregnancy. However, there is a lack of epidemiologic studies in low- and middle-income countries to measure the extent and characteristics of repeated teenage pregnancy across more varied settings.
Only in developing regions did around 12 million girls aged 15-19 years become pregnant, and a minimum of 777,000 of them under 15 years gave birth with more than 10 million unintended pregnancies, 3.9 million unsafe abortions, and other related pregnancy complication-induced mortality and morbidity per a year [1,2,3].Although early pregnancy is a global public challenge, it is more severe ...
One of the great public health challenges of our time has been teen pregnancy. In recent years, however, teen birth rates in the United States have declined substantially to historic record lows since the most recent peak in the early 1990s. The birth rate for females aged 15-19 years declined from 89.1 births per 1,000 females in 1960 12 to ...
The current paper provides an exploration of the mothers that come across the stage of teenage pregnancy. This provides narratives of the causes, challenges encountered, and their regrets by mothers that come across teenage pregnancy. A qualitative method of research was used in this study.
Although this rate has been falling since 1991, the. U.S. teen birth rate remains high compared to the rate in other industrialized countries.1. 2x. Teen birth rates among Black and Hispanic Americans, as well as among American Indians and Alaska Natives, were more than double those among non-Hispanic whites in 2019.2. $9.4B.
Advances in Social Sciences Research Journal (ASSRJ) Vol.7, Issue 8, August-2020 As projected, the percentages of women who have started their reproductive life increases with age ... This paper begins with an introduction on teenage pregnancy. The purpose of the paper is outlined.
Introduction and background. Adolescent pregnancy, by definition, is pregnancy in girls between the ages of 10 and 19, where the majority are unintended pregnancies [].Approximately 15% of women below 18 years gave birth globally in 2015- 2020, and 90% or more of such deliveries occur in countries with low and middle income [1,2].One in every five adolescent girls has given birth globally, and ...
The 2022 Kenya Demographics Health Survey revealed that teenage pregnancy of girls between ages 15 and 19 years old was 28 per cent in Narok, 22 per cent in Kajiado and 18 per cent in Nairobi.
The day the U.S. Supreme Court overturned Roe v. Wade in 2022, the medical board that certifies OB-GYNs in America released a statement calling legal pregnancy termination and knowledge of abortion procedures "essential to reproductive health care." But a small number of influential anti-abortion doctors have spent the last two years trying to change the reproductive health […]
Teenage pregnancy is the biggest killer of young girls worldwide; 1, 000, 000 teenage girls die or suffer serious injury, infection or disease due to pregnancy or childbirth every year . Adolescent girls aged 15 to 19 years are twice as likely to die from complications in pregnancy as are women in their twenties.