Contraceptive Use and Teenage Pregnancy among Child-HeadedHouseholds in South Africa (original) (raw)
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PLOS global public health, 2021
Risky sexual behaviors contribute to increased risk of adolescent pregnancy. This qualitative study sought to understand risks and protective factors against pregnancy amongst sexually-active adolescents in Soweto, South Africa. We used purposive sampling to recruit women at age 24 years from Soweto, who self-reported having sexual debut by age 15 years. Twenty women were recruited: (i) women who did not become pregnant before 18 years (n = 10) and (ii) women who became pregnant before 18 years (n = 10). In-depth interviews were conducted to understand their family backgrounds, conversations about sex, sexual behaviors, and initiatives taken (or not) during adolescence to prevent pregnancy. Both groups of women reported predisposing risks to early pregnancy including influence from peers to engage in early sex, unstable family relationships and limited conversations about sex. We found that the family is a key institution in supporting adolescents' decisions regarding their behaviors and choices, as are peers and exposures to information. Community Youth Centers, high schools and Youth Friendly Health Services should ensure that adolescents have access to relevant information, including sex education and contraceptives.
The Open Public Health Journal
Background: Teenage pregnancy continues to be a concern. Complications during pregnancy and childbirth are the leading causes of death among pregnant teenagers. The use of contraception and support to prevent teenage pregnancies is of utmost importance to help address this concern. Objectives: The study aimed to explore and describe perceptions of teenagers regarding the use of contraception (1) and what support is required in assisting teenagers to prevent teenage pregnancies (2) in Limpopo Province, South Africa. Methods: A qualitative research strategy employing exploratory and descriptive approaches was used in this study. Purposive sampling of teenagers in a public secondary school with the highest pregnancy rate in a district of the Limpopo Province was used. Data were collected from 23 participants using naïve sketch booklets with 12 questions. Data were analysed using content analysis with the assistance of a co-coder. Results: Three categories emerged from the data, namely ...
Adolescents
Every year, 7.3 million girls become pregnant before they turn 18. Teenage pregnancy increases when girls are denied the right to make decisions about their sexual health and well-being, which is a gender equality issue. Among the challenges of gender equality are those expectations that communities have about girls and early motherhood, sexual violence, and rape. Another challenge is the early marriages of children to older men coupled with the unique risks faced by these girls during pregnancy, for example, the interruption of their education, health risks, such as HIV, premature birth, and increased maternal mortality, denying the girls the right to live a healthy life. This study sought to explore the experiences of adolescent girls regarding teenage pregnancy in the rural villages of the Mopani District, Limpopo. A descriptive, explorative, and qualitative design was followed to collect data from 20 pregnant teenagers in a 13–19 years-old age group. A nonprobability purposive s...
Factors associated with teenage pregnancy in the Eastern Cape Province
Background: In line with international trends, current South African policy and plans identify sexual and reproductive health, including the prevention of unplanned and unwanted pregnancies amongst teenagers and the provision of support to those who do conceive, as a key priority area for health intervention. Since it has been shown that a majority of young women’s pregnancies are unplanned and unwanted, and because prevalent research contains various gaps on teenage sexual reproduction/sexuality, the aim of this study is to contribute to an enhanced understanding of the nature, extent and factors associated with teenage pregnancy in the Eastern Cape Province. By doing this, it will be possible to identify, as well as to suggest areas of intervention needed to prevent unplanned and unwanted teenage pregnancies. Methods: In order to harness evidence on the causes of teenage pregnancy, triangulation of quantitative and qualitative methodologies was done. The study was to understand factors associated with teenage pregnancy in the Eastern Cape Province. Knowledge, attitudes, practices and perceptions (KAPP) survey among teenage mothers and service providers was conducted. Focus group discussions were conducted with parents and teenagers in general. The study had a total of 294 teenage mothers and 68 service providers surveyed as well as 39 focus group discussions held with parents and teenagers in all seven districts of the Eastern Cape Province. Results: The study showed that teenage pregnancy in the Eastern Cape Province is a problem, with both unplanned and unwanted pregnancies among teenage mothers being exceptionally high. The explanatory factors identified to be the most significant ones, are related to four categories, 1) the exposure to sex; 2) cultural factors; 3) psycho-social factors, and; 4) economic factors. Early sexual debut increases incidences of unwanted pregnancies and the proportion of teenage mothers engaging in sex for pleasure was significant in the province. The result showed that rape, either statutory or explicit, though not significant factor it is high in the Eastern Cape Province. The cultural practise of proving one’s womanhood influenced teenage girls to fall pregnant. Complementary to this was “partner wanting a baby” which also influenced teenagers to get pregnant. Ukuthwala, though not significant most teenage mother and service providers identified it as a practice exposing girls to sex. When looking at psycho-social factors, early marriages contributed to unwanted pregnancies. The study recognises that teenagers from the African group population are more likely to have unwanted pregnancies than other population groups. Experimenting with sex also increased incidences of teenagers falling pregnant. Lastly, the research highlights the perception among teenagers that having multiple partners as a means of alleviating poverty is widespread in the Eastern Cape Province. While there is a myth that teenagers fall pregnant because they want to access the child support grant, the results show that the proportion of teenagers who fell pregnant to access the CSG was low. Also, by investigating which sources of knowledge teenagers use to receive information on sexual issues, the study reveals that there still exist many barriers, keeping the vicious cycle of ignorance as well as unplanned and unwanted teenage pregnancies alive in the province. Conclusion: In order to reduce the high number of unplanned and unwanted pregnancies in the Eastern Cape Province, there is a need to adopt a multi-stakeholder, institutional capacity building approach, inclusive of schools, hospitals and clinics, traditional leaders, family members as well as non-governmental organisations and the government. The strategies used must cover multiple issues, such as the understanding and enforcement of relevant law, economic empowerment, improved accessibility to services and public awareness campaigns.
Early pregnancy and child birth increases the health risk for the mother and the baby. It is a public health concern in South Africa as it may affect the health; social and economic well-being of society at large. Although immediate determinants of teenage pregnancy in South Africa relate to behaviour, the fundamental drivers are more deeply rooted institutional problems of poverty, underdevelopment and gender based violence. In addition, government policies, socio-economic injustices, unequal power structures and culture contribute to the high rates of teenage pregnancies in South Africa. The aim of this study was to assess contributing to adolescent pregnancies with in three rural communities in Eastern Cape Province. Guided by the PEN-3 cultural model and Community-based participatory research principles, an explorative qualitative research design was undertaken with 14 community care workers from Glenmore, Ndwayana and Grahamstown. As phase one of an ongoing study, semi-structured interviews were carried out with the participants. The results were coded according to the domains of the PEN 3 model. The main findings indicated that adolescent pregnancies are a significant cause for concern in the communities under study. Perceptions (myths surrounding contraceptive use), enablers (availability of clinics), and nurturers (parents, peers and boyfriends) were found to be important in making decisions regarding contraceptive use and sexual activity amongst adolescents. These factors identified will inform the development of culturally sensitive and appropriate health promotion material during the next phase of the study. Keywords: Adolescent Pregnancies; PEN-3 Cultural Model; Rural Communities; Health Promotion.
South African Journal of Psychology, 2010
In this paper, we review South African research conducted in the last 10 years on the consequences of and contributory factors in teen-aged pregnancy. We discuss research into the rates of teen-aged pregnancy, the intentionality and wantedness of pregnancy, the disruption of schooling, health issues, consequences for the children, welfare concerns, knowledge and use of contraception, timing of sexual debut, age of partner, coercive sexual relations, cultural factors and health service provision. We compare this discussion to the reviews on the same topic appearing in the South African Journal of Psychology a decade ago. We find that there are several changes in focus in the research on pregnancy amongst young women. We conclude that, in general, there has been an improvement in the breadth of data available, mostly as a result of representative national and local surveys. A better teasing out of nuances around particular issues and a grappling with theoretical issues are also eviden...
Adolescent pregnancy and associated factors in South African youth
African Health Sciences, 2013
Background: Adolescent pregnancy, occurring in girls aged 10-19 years, remains a serious health and social problem worldwide, and has been associated with numerous risk factors evident in the young people's family, peer, school, and neighbourhood contexts.
Teenage Pregnancy in South Africa: A Challenge to Democracy
Teenagers continue to fall pregnant despite living in countries which not only guarantee their reproductive and sexual rights but also attempt to protect them. Some have argued that these teenagers are being irresponsible but this is illogical as it reflects a myopic view of society regarding teenage issues. Teenage pregnancy is a result of environment/structural issues and society’s failure to protect young girls. Males of all ages make unwanted sexual advances towards teenage girls with impunity. Force seems to be the main contributor to teenage pregnancy, but myriad factors such as gender stereotypes, the efficacy and expansiveness of Adolescent Health Programmes, the inaccessibility of family planning services and inadequate knowledge about sexuality and reproduction cannot be discounted. The present paper, therefore, examines some of the issues which may contribute to teenage pregnancy. It is anticipated the paper would help clarify the problems of teenage pregnancy and also suggest effective ways to deal with the problem.