Poor Pregnancy Outcomes among Adolescents in South Nyanza Region of Kenya.
Abstract
In this paper, factors associated with poor pregnancy outcomes among teenagers in the South Nyanza region of Kenya are examined. The analysis was based on a recent WHO-funded study on adolescent safe motherhood in the region, which involved a survey of 1247 adolescents aged 12-19 and in-depth interviews with 39 of the adolescents who had experienced very early pregnancies or pregnancy wastage. The indicators of poor pregnancy outcomes analysed included pregnancy wastage and premature delivery. A striking finding was the unusually high rate of premature deliveries, especially in cases of unintended pregnancies. Analysis of the qualitative data based on in-depth interviews shed some light on possible explanations for the poor pregnancy outcomes observed among these adolescents. In particular, unsafe abortion attempts and poor maternal health care emerged as important issues of concern.
Citation
Magadi, M. Poor Pregnancy Outcomes among Adolescents in South Nyanza Region of Kenya. (2004) Opportunities and Choices Working Paper No. 16 [S3RI Applications Working Paper A04/04], University of Southampton, Southampton, UK, 20 pp.
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