Maternal awareness of reproductive health practices and its impact on adolescent pregnancy: a study of mothers in Dagoretti Community, Nairobi.
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Date
2014
Authors
Kabue, Priscillah Njeri
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Abstract
Unchecked high rate of pregnancy among adolescents is a major concern in the developing
countries due to associated risks that include obstructed labour, abortion and high maternal
morbidity and mortality. Through appropriate knowledge of reproductive health, adolescents
develop correct perception that enable them to make responsible and informed choices
regarding sex. Adolescents in the developing world have little knowledge of reproductive health
yet there is considerable resistance to teaching reproductive health in school due to prevailing
parental and religious opposition. Parents need to counsel adolescents on reproductive health in
order to reduce adolescent pregnancy. Studies in the field of adolescent fertility have tended to
focus on adolescents, not parents, yet parents play an important role in the upbringing of their
children. Therefore, there is need to review approach of counselling adolescents.
In view of this a cross-sectional study was conducted on mothers in Dagoretti, a peri-urban area
of Nairobi City, with the aim of establishing maternal awareness of reproductive health
practices, maternal counselling of adolescent on reproductive health issues and the extent of
maternal influence on the prevention of adolescent pregnancy. Further, the study sought to find
whether mothers had adequate knowledge, right attitudes and communication skills to guide
and counsel adolescent girls.
The study population was composed of women above 20 years with at least one child. Both
structured interviews and Focus Group discussions were used to collect data. A total of 478
women responded to the structured questionnaire and 3 Focus Group discussions were held.
- . Based on knowledge of family planning, fertility and sexually transmitted infections, 70% of
the respondents were considered knowledgeable on reproductive health practices. Knowledge
on reproductive health was positively associated with age of the respondents ci = 21.9, p =
0.038) and level of education (X2 =33.8 p = 0.0001).
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Forty-four point four percent of the respondents reported being a guardian or a mother of
pregnant adolescent. Adolescent pregnancy in a home was negatively associated with
respondents' educational level (X2 =11.4 P = .0.009) and religion (X2 =18.9 P = 0.018) but
positively associated with number of children (X2 =13.9 p = 0.007). Majority of the mothers
59.9% (286) counselled adolescent girls who were not related to them while only 30.8% of the
240 respondents who had adolescent daughters counselled them. Counselling own adolescent
daughter was positively associated with respondents' age (l =77.9 p = 0.001) also educational
level (X2 =21.1 P = 0.0001) but negatively associated with number of children (X2 = 64.3 P =
0.0001). Respondents' counselling of adolescents not related to them was negatively associated
with number of children (X2 = 15.3 P = 0.004) and positively associated with occupation (X2
=1L6 P = 0.021). However, maternal knowledge of reproductive health practices was not
significant associated with counselling of adolescents (X: = 0.04 P = 0.8) or presence of
adolescent pregnancy (X2 = 3.0 p = 0.08).
The study also shows that 99.2% of the respondents do not object to teaching of reproductive
health practices in schools, though 68.5% of the mothers disapprove adolescent access to family
planning services claiming that this would encourage immorality and cause infertility among
adolescents.
The study concludes that knowledge of reproductive health practices increases with the level of
education of the mother and number of children. Knowledge of reproductive health of the
mother has no influence on adolescent pregnancy and adolescent child counselling. This
suggests that other factors such as education and counselling skills were required among the
respondents to offer guidance and counselling. This information is useful for polic makers in
developing educational strategies which will empower mothers with education and counselling
skills to enable them counsel adolescent girls effectively thus reducing adolescent pregnancy.
Description
Masters-Department of Zoological Sciences, 97p. November 2001, HQ 759.4 .K3