KNOWLEDGE AND ATTITUDES OF ADOLESCENT GIRLS TOWARDS PREVENTION OF UNWANTED PREGNANCY

1.1 Introduction

Adolescent pregnancy is defined as pregnancy in girls aged 10 to 19 years (Kiani et al., 2019). It is projected that approximately 21 million girls between the ages of 15 and 19 in the developing world become pregnant each year, and approximately 12 million of them give birth (WHO, 2022), and at least 777,000 girls under the age of 15 give birth in these areas each year (UNFPA, 2022) which accounts for almost 11% of all births worldwide (Ayanaw et al., 2017). More than 90% of these births occur in low- and middle-income countries (Ayanaw et al., 2017). Adolescent pregnancy is an important public health problem and a socio-economic challenge in diverse societies. As a tremendously important problem, this issue has caused major concerns, as it exposes adolescent girls to social isolation and physical and psychological harm.

As a prelude to other parts of this study, this chapter will discuss the background upon which this study was initiated, the statement of problems that led to this study, the Aim and Objectives of the study. Others are Significance of the study, Scope of work, Research hypothesis and questions, Limitations of the Study and Definition of technical terms.

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1.2 Background of Study

Adolescent pregnancy is an important public health problem, and it is considered a socio-economic challenge for different societies (Osaikhuwuomwan et al., 2013). Complications and problems related to pregnancy occur in pregnant adolescents and other pregnant women. In addition, there are more concerns for people under the age of 15, as they are not physically strong enough to maintain pregnancy and childbirth (Mayor et al., 2004). Each year, about 3.9 million girls between the ages of 15 and 19 are subjected to unsafe abortions (Darroch et al., 2016). These adolescent mothers are at higher risk than women aged 20 to 24 for eclampsia, postpartum endometritis, and systemic infections (Loto et al., 2004; Ting et al., 2020). Pregnancy in adolescence is a risk factor for impaired education, future unemployment, sexually transmitted infections, HIV, preterm delivery, and poor mental health (Kanku et al., 2010). Based on the United Nations, complications from pregnancy and childbirth are the leading cause of death for 15- to 19-year-old girls in developing countries. UNICEF estimates that of the 50,000 deaths, almost all occur in low- and middle- income countries (WHO, 2022).

Rohmah et al. (2020) in Indonesia, in their study, identified four main influential variables in adolescent pregnancy: age, economic status, level of education, and employment status (Rohmah et al., 2020). The results of a study in India in 2017 showed that 59.6% of female students in the school had low knowledge about early marriage and early pregnancy, and more than half of school girls (52.5%) had a relatively favorable attitude towards early marriage and early pregnancy (Vandana et al., 2017).

In an effort to manage the rates of teenage pregnancy, the government and other relevant stakeholders have come up with different interventions. The Department of Education’s (2007) ‘Measures for the Prevention and Management of Learner Pregnancy’ is a framework that seeks to prevent and manage early pregnancy in schools. Government has also introduced Life Orientation as a compulsory subject in schools. Life Orientation furnishes learners with life skills training; however, the success of Life Orientation is hindered by educators’ inability to express life skills and their inability to discuss sex without being judgemental (Macleod & Tracey, 2010).

World Health Organization (2004) opined that a teenager is a person between 15-19 years of age, they said it is a period where an individual is shaped and prepared for adulthood responsibilities they said also that there are advantages and disadvantages of teenage pregnancy or having a baby at ones teenage stage, they went ahead to say that when you are younger the benefits are usually associated with greater fertility a more healthy pregnancy and a quicker recovery after birth. But the down side is that your social life, education and training can be severely disrupted just when it might be taking off into an interesting direction. Moreso, they said some teenagers are much more capable of looking after a child than the older women because late motherhood or late pregnancy has a greater risk of complications in the pregnancy and reduce fertility. Being older, they said can also be more exhausting looking after growing children.

Therefore, in Nigeria where the research was carried out, the activities that was conducted is to examine the Knowledge and Attitudes of Adolescent Girls towards Prevention of Unwanted Pregnancy.

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1.3 Statement of Problems

Investigation revealed that Adolescent pregnancy concern has over the years increased as more efforts have been channeled towards managing teenage pregnancy without any imminent success in sight. Prevalence rates continue to increase despite efforts by government and other stakeholders through campaigns, interventions and the establishment of youth friendly clinics. Other challenges include:

1. Adolescent girls do not have adequate knowledge of protecting themselves from unwanted pregnancy.
2. Adolescent girls leave school because of unwanted pregnancy.
3. Getting pregnant even when their reproductive organs have not fully developed.

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1.4 Aim and Objectives of Study

The aim of the study is to examine the Knowledge and Attitudes of Adolescent Girls towards Prevention of Unwanted Pregnancy. In achieving this aim, the following specific objectives were laid out as follows:

1. To understand adolescents’ knowledge and attitudes of adolescent towards pregnancy preventions
2. To explore adolescents’ knowledge, attitudes and perceptions towards adolescent pregnancy.
3. To explore factors that affects and influence adolescents’ knowledge and attitudes towards adolescent pregnancy prevention.

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1.5 Research Questions

The study came up with research questions so as to be able to ascertain the above stated objectives. The specific research questions for the study are stated below as follows:

• Are adolescent girls aware about unwanted pregnancy preventions?
• How do they perceive teenage unwanted pregnancy?
• What are their attitudes toward unwanted pregnancy?
• What knowledge do adolescent girls have with regards to pregnancy?
• What are the factors that affects and influence adolescents’ knowledge and attitudes towards adolescent pregnancy prevention?

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1.6 Research Hypothesis

In order to pursue the objective of this study, the following generalized statements have been designed to guide and aids in obtaining the result for the experiment to be conducted. For this work, the null hypothesis will be represented with H0 while the alternative hypothesis will be represented with hypothesis H1.

Hypothesis One

• H0: There are no significant factors that affect and influence adolescents’ knowledge and attitudes towards adolescent pregnancy prevention
• H1: There are significant factors that affect and influence adolescents’ knowledge and attitudes towards adolescent pregnancy prevention

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1.7 Significance of Study

This study is aimed at exploring adolescents’ knowledge, attitudes and perceptions towards Prevention of Unwanted Pregnancy. Teenagers’ dialogues around pregnancy help in establishing how best teenage pregnancy can be managed and controlled from the teenagers’ perspective. It is important that teenagers be actively involved in the design and development of interventions that focus on their circumstances. This ensures adoption of messages and practices as they take ownership of the intervention.

This study will be of immense benefit to other researchers who intend to know more on this study and can also be used by non-researchers to build more on their research work. This study contributes to knowledge and could serve as a guide for other study.

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1.8 Scope of Study

The scope of the research is focused on the Knowledge and Attitudes of Adolescent Girls towards Prevention of Unwanted Pregnancy in Enugu State Primary Health Care (PHC).

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1.9 Limitations of the Study

During the course of this study, many things militated against its completion, some of which are:

1. Time Constraint: The time frame given to accomplish this project was very short due to school academic calendar and it was carried out under pressure which made the researcher not to implement some necessary features.
2. Research material: availability of research material is a major setback to the scope of the study.
3. Frequent power failure: This made the researcher append more money on fuel to ensure sustainable power.
4. Financial Constraint: Insufficient fund tends to impede the efficiency of the researcher in sourcing for the relevant materials, literature or information and in the process of data collection (internet, questionnaire and interview).