Beyond love: a qualitative analysis of factors associated with teenage pregnancy among young women with pregnancy experience in Bolgatanga, Ghana

Globally, an estimated 16 million young women aged 15 to 19years give birth every year. Most teenage pregnancies are unintended and being pregnant or delivering a baby as a teenager can have serious adverse consequences. Knowledge of the environmental factors and social cognitive determinants influencing young women's failure to protect against unintended pregnancy is necessary to address the high rate of teenage pregnancies. We conducted semi-structured in-depth interviews with 21 young women, who had experience of pregnancy, in Bolgatanga, Ghana. The interview protocol included themes (relationships, sex, pregnancy, family planning) and determinants (knowledge, attitudes, self-efficacy, norms, risk perceptions) derived from empirical studies and theories related to sexuality behaviour. Findings show that young women's motivations for sexual relationships are mostly beyond love' and seem to focus on economic factors. The main means of sexual protection seems to be condom use. Other forms of contraception were believed to be linked to infertility. Sexuality remains a largely taboo topic for open discussion and sex education in schools seems limited to abstinence-only messages. The need for more open communication on matters of sexuality with young people and the provision of a more comprehensive sexuality education in school to address teenage pregnancies in Ghana, is discussed

Etude de la connaissance, de l’attitude et des pratiques concernant santé de la reproduction chez les secondaires à Bolgatanga, à Upper East Région au Ghana

This study was conducted within the secondary school student population of the Bolgatanga community, in Northern Ghana, to learn about knowledge, attitude and practices of reproductive health of this adolescent student population. Both quantitative and qualitative data were collected on adolescence perception, STIs and HIV/AIDS, family planning, male-female relationship, and vulnerability to sexual violence. The data collected show a concerning low familiarity of the student population with family planning methods and HIV/AIDS transmission, which, combined with minimal contraceptive use, pose them at high risk for unwanted pregnancies and sexual infections transmission. We argue that poor infrastructures and low accessibility of these rural areas in Northern Ghana may have led to uneven distribution of reproductive health educational programs in the country, urging more programs and interventions aimed particularly at these high risk groups (Afr J Reprod Health 2009; 13[4]:51-66).Cette étude a été menée au sein de la population des étudiants des écoles secondaires dans la communauté de Bolgatanga au nord du Ghana afin de nous renseigner sur la connaissance, l’attitude et les pratiques de la santé de reproduction chez cette population adolescente. Nous avons collecté des données quantitatives et qualitatives sur la perception de l’adolescence, les ISTs et le VIH/SIDA, la planification familiale, le rapport hommefemme et la vulnérabilité à la violence sexuelle. Les données collectées ont montré une faible familiarité inquiétante au sein de la population estudiantine avec les méthodes de la planification familiale et la transmission du VIH/SIDA qui, combinée avec l’emploi minimal du contraceptif, les expose à un haut risque pour des grossesses non voulues et la transmission des infections sexuelles. Nous soutenons que les mauvaises infrastructures et la basse accessibilité de ces régions rurales au Ghana du nord ont peut-être conduit à la distribution inégale des programmes éducatifs de la santé de la reproduction dans le pays en recommandant davantage de programmes et d’interventions qui visent en particulier ces groupes à très haut risque (Afr J Reprod Health 2009; 13[4]:51-66)