Factors contributing to high teenage pregnancy among teenagers aged 15-19 years at Kawaala health center IV, Kampala district. A cross-sectional study.
DOI:
https://doi.org/10.51168/p7qb7p87Keywords:
Teenage pregnancy, Adolescents aged 15-19 years, Kawaala Health Center, Kampala districtAbstract
Background.
Teenage pregnancy countrywide is growing rapidly among school-going pupils, and it leads to teenagers dropping out of school to care for their babies. This study determined the factors contributing to high teenage pregnancies among teenagers aged 15-19 years attending Kawaala Health Centre IV.
Methodology.
The study was a descriptive cross-sectional study by design, and it employed quantitative data collection methods. A simple random sampling method was used to select 30 pregnant mothers for the study. A questionnaire was used to collect data that was analyzed manually, and the results were presented in the form of tables, graphs, and pie charts.
Results.
(60%) Of the respondents were aged 17-19 years, (53.3%) had a primary level of education, and (40%) were married. The cultural factors identified were (66.7%) lack of parental guidance, (70%) peer pressure, (63.3%) sexual harassment and (60%) myths and misconceptions, socio-economic factors identified were (66.7%) poverty, (86.7%) lack of access to the health facility and (20%) misuse of media, individual factors identified were lack of knowledge about contraception (60%) and peer pressure (40%).
Conclusion.
The established factors were: Lack of knowledge about contraception, peer pressure, sexual harassment, myths and misconceptions, poverty, lack of access to the health facility, misuse of media, and lack of parental guidance.
Recommendation.
Ministries should establish an approach that is more holistic to equip the teenagers with appropriate knowledge on sexuality and access to sexual and reproductive health services, rather than traditional coaching approaches that focus on improving sexual ability, attitudes, and norms.
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