FACTORS CONTRIBUTING TO TEENAGE PREGNANCY IN THE WEST MAMPRUSI DISTRICT

Abstract

Investing in teenage girls today will unleash their full potential to shape humanity's future. However, the distorted transitioning of girls into womanhood as a result of early pregnancy ought to be seen as a significant economic loss. This study sought to ascertain the factors determining teenage pregnancies in the West Mumprusi District. The study was cross-sectional in design with both qualitative and quantitative data used. A total of 196 teenage mothers were sampled for the study and data analysed using SPSS version 21. The mean age of the study participants was 16.6± 1.4 with a minimum and maximum age of 12 and 19 years respectively and a median age of 17 years. Majority of the study participants had never been to school and most (61.7%) of them still depended on their parents for their daily survival. The data revealed that, 19.4% of the teenage girls interviewed were pregnant at the time of the study. Contraceptive use (p=O.O I) and level of freedom from home (p=O.04) were identified as important intrapersonal and interpersonal factors respectively in determining teenage pregnancy in the study area. Most (65.3%) of the study participants were aware of family planning or modern contraceptives while very few (35.2%) were aware of comprehensive abortion care. In conclusion, both intrapersonal and interpersonal factors were identified as determinants of teenage pregnancy. However, only contraceptive use and level of freedom from home were identified as important intrapersonal and interpersonal factors respectively in determining teenage pregnancy in the study area. Communities and families should therefore be sensitized about adolescent sexual health and steps should be taken to enroll back teenage mothers to school to prevent or reduce multiple teenage pregnancies.