Every year, about 13,000 Kenyan girls drop out of school due to accidental pregnancy and 103 out of every 1000 births in Kenya are delivered to girls aged 15–19. 10%) pregnancies compared to women in other age groups. While the total mistimed (26%) and unwanted (17%) pregnancies among all women (15–49 years) remains high, young women (15–24 years) experience even higher mistimed (32% vs. Young women in Kenya experience a higher risk of mistimed and unwanted pregnancy compared to older women. This suggests that age at first marriage cannot be used as a proxy for age at first sex and many young people are having sex before marriage. Recent statistics from the Ministry of Planning indicate that 97% of males and 85% of females aged 15–19 years are not married. Research by the Centre for Study of Adolescence found that four in ten Kenyan girls had sex before the age of 19, many of them as early as 12. According to the Kenya DHS 2008–09, 12% of women aged 20–49 had sex before age 15, and about half had their first sex by their 18th birthday. The proportion of teenagers who have started childbearing increases from 2% at age 15 to 36% by age 19. In the last decade, youth fertility has declined by 7% but the contribution to overall fertility (TFR) has increased from 32% in the late 1970s to 37% in 2008. Contraceptive prevalence was found to be 46% a result that did not meet the 2010 target of 62% set by the Kenya National Population Policy for Sustainable Development. According to the Kenya Demographic Health Survey (DHS) 2008–09, total fertility rate (TFR) was 4.6, while 42% of married women reported their current pregnancies as unintended. This stall is attributed to a number of factors including reduced availability of modern contraceptive methods, diversion of resources to HIV/AIDS, and inadequate support for family planning programmes. Although fertility declined between 1978 to 1997, it has levelled off in recent years. Several decades after the introduction of modern family planning methods, Kenya’s population is still growing and is projected to exceed 60 million by 2025. As an outcome from this study, Population Services Kenya developed a mass media campaign to address key myths and misconceptions among youth. In such settings, family planning programming should engage with the wider community through mass and peer campaign strategies. The findings stress the influence of social network approval on the use of family planning, beyond the individual’s beliefs. The main barriers to modern contraceptive uptake among young women are myths and misconceptions. Conclusionįindings from this research confirm that awareness and knowledge of contraception do not necessarily translate to use. Young women learn about both true side effects and myths from their social networks. Many fears were based on myths and misconceptions. The biggest fear was that a particular method would cause infertility. Fear of side effects and adverse reactions were a major barrier to use. Contraception was also associated with promiscuity and straying. Condoms were not considered as contraception by many users. ResultsĪll the respondents in the study were familiar with modern methods of contraception and most could describe their general mechanisms of action. In depth interviews were conducted with a sample of sexually active women aged 15–24, both users and non-users, that were drawn from randomly selected households. Within these regions, urban or peri-urban districts were purposively selected based on having contraceptive prevalence rate close to the regional average and having a population with low socioeconomic profiles. The study was carried out in Nyanza, Coast, and Central regions. To inform a youth focussed behaviour change communication campaign, Population Services Kenya developed a qualitative study to better understand these barriers among young women. Known barriers to uptake include side effects, access to commodities and partner approval. However, contraceptive use among youth remains low.
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