Is your teenager at risk of becoming a statistic of unplanned teenage pregnancy?

According to statistics from data collected between January and October 2021 by the National Council for Population and Development, one out of eight adolescent girls in Kenya is either pregnant or has delivered a child (or children). Among those aged 15-19 years, Nairobi County led with 13,319 adolescent pregnancies followed by Kakamega County with 11,594 and Meru County with 10,406. The report indicated that there were multidimensional drivers to the teenage pregnancies in the different counties including inadequate reproductive health information and services, lack of parental guidance, peer pressure, sexual violence, forced marriage and poverty.

One of the drivers indicated in the NCPD report to teenage pregnancies is lack of parental guidance in addition to inadequate reproductive health information and services. But how do you ensure that your teenager doesn’t become a statistic of unplanned teenage pregnancy, loss of innocence and STIs including HIV? Here are a few tips…

• As a parent, have open lines of communication, such that in case your child finds themselves in such a crisis, their first thought should be ‘I need to talk to mom/dad’ and not ‘Mom/Dad will kill me’
• Take the initiative of having your own discussion on sex education with them. Inform them about safe sex and how contraceptives work. Having the right information on the downside of early sexual debut is better than learning the hard way – exploring and having to deal with the consequences of guilt, unplanned pregnancies and sexually transmitted infections and diseases including HIV.
• Instil in them values such as confident decision making, honesty and self-love. Share your personal views and values about sex with them. Teach them that ‘no’ means no and that they don’t have to be apologetic about declining sexual advances.
• Trust that they will make the best choices for themselves based on the values you have taught them.

At ACLAD, we seek to help bridge the gap between parents and adolescents in Western Kenya where there is a high number of teenage pregnancies through a new program we are rolling out called Stepping up!, as well as build stronger relationships between them and increase the use of the various family planning methods available to prevent unplanned pregnancies. Stay tuned for more information and progress on Stepping Up! …

Catherine Muteithia

ACLAD Research and Communications Assistant