Antenatal care and educational problems of unmarried teenage mothers in Nairobi

Abstract

Part of a detailed analysis of 864 unmarried teenage mothers delivering in Pumwani Maternity Hospital and Kenyatta National Hospital is presented. Teenage pregnancy amounted for 42.3% of all deliveries of unmarried mothers. Most teenage patients were above 16 years of age, had a religious background of wide coverage, had low quality antenatal care and low education. 94.6% were found to be primigravidas. This dominance has also been found by other workers. PIP: A prospective cross-sectional descriptive study of unmarried mothers delivering in Pumwani Maternity Hospital and Kenyatta National Hospital, Nairobi, Kenya, from December 1986-April 1987, was conducted with a pretested open-ended questionnaire: the 864 teen mothers are described here. They ranged from 13.4-19 years, most were 17-19. 49.4% were Catholic and 45% Protestant. 88.5% attended prenatal clinics once; 51.5% attended 5 times, although only 13% went to hospital clinics for specialized care. For reasons for not going for prenatal care teens stated that they were too shy to undergo a clinical exam, afraid of parents' reaction, unaware of the pregnancy or of the existence of prenatal care, they had not menstruated, or were in school, in prison, or had long work hours. Most girls had primary education, and 97.9% had dropped out of school. 34% dropped out because of pregnancy, and 32% for lack of tuition fees. Reasons for dropping out of school were tabulated, encompassing a broad range of social problems such as war, death, divorce, alcoholism or illness of parents, no tuition or uniform funds, poor grades, and running away from school. In Africa, teen pregnancy is probably increasing because of decreasing age at menarche and relaxing of traditional values.