An exploration of the causes of student pregnancy and psychological stressors experienced by pregnant students at University of Venda, South Africa

Determinants and Consequences of Teenage Pregnancy among Public Basic School Learners

“…The menace of teenage pregnancy is affecting the country's target of meeting the Sustainable Development Goal four (4) which ensure inclusive and equitable quality education and promote lifelong learning opportunities for all. This menace causes psychological and physical trauma to girls, forcing them often to commit suicide especially in the conservative families of developing countries where it looks upon with hate [19,17]. The findings further corroborate with the submission of Walden et al [15] who outlined the problems associated to the menace as school dropouts, school misfits, reduce career opportunities, health problems, abandoned babies, prostitution, and finally increase in dependency rate.…”

“…In such communities, modernisation, advancements in technology and innovation, and access to internet are increasing at an alarming rate; a situation that has put much pressure and responsibilities on parents, teachers and other responsible members of the society. Factors that are seen as leading cause of teenage pregnancy including the adoption of western culture, uncontrolled sexual behaviour by some adults, lack of parental care, glamorisation, peer influence, lack of education in sex and relationship, broken homes, watching of pornographic films and booklets, financial needs/poverty, parental pressure, alcohol/drug abuse and immoral practices among others [17,14,15]. This menace brings untold hardship to the individual and the society as a whole.…”

“…Medically, pregnant teenage girls are at a high risk of having health complications during and after pregnancy, leading to health hazards such as obstetric fistula, infant mortality, psychological and physical trauma, and also maternal death [10]. Socially, it increases frustration, abortion, alcohol/drug abuse, prostitution and poverty [19,17,14]. It also results in child abandonment and proliferation of bastard children with an uncertain future [15].…”

“…Thus the act of abstinence from sexually related activities. Furthermore, teenage pregnancy can be narrowed or eliminated through proper education on reproductive health and sex, financial and material support, and counselling of teenagers [19,17,15]. The main avoidance is to teach oneself about undesirable pregnancy and to have the option to seek early guidance and medical help.…”

“…The phenomenon of teenage pregnancy is becoming one of the major headaches to educators, parents, school authorities and other stakeholders [20]. This incident is more severe in deprived and less developed communities in Ashanti (17,802), Eastern (10,865) and Central (10,301) regions, the three regions with the highest recorded cases of teenage pregnancy in Ghana for the year 2015 [21]. According to GHS [10], in 2020 nearly 301 girls were impregnated daily in Ghana while 13 teenage pregnancies recorded every one hour per the data, girls between the ages of 10 and 14 years accounted for 2,865 pregnancies recorded in 2020 whiles another 107,023 girls between the ages of 15-19 were impregnated within the same year.…”