The Prevalence Outcome and Associated Factors of Teenage Pregnancy in the Bamenda Health District

Abstract

Teenage pregnancy is a common public health problem worldwide because teenagers in general are ill-prepared to deal with the burden of pregnancy. Sub-Saharan Africa has the highest burden of teenage pregnancy precisely in the west and central Africa; in Cameroon, about 12% of all births are to teenage mothers. Complications from pregnancy and childbirth are the leading cause of death among girls aged 15 to 19. Though the trend of teenage pregnancy tends to decrease in most parts of the world, this is not the case in our setting. The main aim of this study was to determine the prevalence, outcomes and the associated factors of teenage pregnancy in the Bamenda Health District (BHD). Materials and Method: This was a hospital-based cross-sectional descriptive and analytic study carried out at the maternity and postnatal units of the Bamenda Regional Hospital and the Nkwen Medicalised Health Center. A consecutive non-probabilistic sampling technique was used to recruit participants. A pretested questionnaire was used to collect information from the participant. Data was analysed using the software SPSS version 23. Bivariate logistic regression was used to test for associations. Statistical significance was set at p-value less than 0.05. Result: A total of 325 participants were recruited of which 44 were teenagers. The mean age of the participants was 25.02 ± 0.257 years. The mean age of teenagers was 17.49 ± 0.63 years, and mean adult age was 28.43 ± 5.64 years. The youngest participant was 15 years. Teenagers were significantly more likely to prematurity

Perceptions of community health workers on teenage pregnancy in rural Limpopo: A qualitative study

“…Previous studies have underlined factors that predispose adolescents to pregnancy including culture, early marriage, poor access to modern contraception, low level of education and low socio-economic status. 20,21 In accordance with the study conducted in South Africa, the study recommended that community-wide initiatives to prevent teenage pregnancy should be supported and strengthened. 11 According to the findings by Dutta et al, a lack of family support and family customs pushed teenagers towards unwanted and repeated pregnancy.…”