Abstract
Background: Teenage pregnancy remains a challenge in Lesotho with the birth rate at 94.00 per 1000 girls aged 15-19. Six out of 10 girls aged 15-19 are mothers or they are pregnant with their first child. These girls are not physically and emotionally fit for motherhood responsibilities.
Methodology: The study was aimed at investigating factors contributing to teenage pregnancy amongst grade 12 learners. It was guided by hypotheses relating to demographic attributes, attitudes, knowledge regarding contraception, and barriers to healthcare access. The study had 79 female participants from Thetsane High School aged from 16- 20 years. Data was collected using closed ended questionnaires. Data analysis was done using SPSS software. The analysis employed descriptive statistics to summarise data trends and inferential statistics (such as Chi-squared and Fisher’s exact tests) to determine the association between variables. The variables analysed included the knowledge of contraception, attitudes and perception of learners towards teenage pregnancy, barriers to accessing family planning services, and demographic factors affecting sexual behaviours.
Results: The analysis revealed several findings that included knowledge of family planning, where a significant portion of respondents lacked knowledge about contraception, with 63.4% unaware of family planning. However, 63.5% correctly identified that pregnancy could be prevented by using condoms and birth control pills, while some misconceptions persisted. The study found that access to reproductive health services has been hindered by different factors, including the perceived unfriendly attitude of healthcare providers and lack of encouragement to use contraceptives.
The influence of education on contraception has revealed that adolescents who received comprehensive sexual and reproductive education from media were more likely to use protection during intercourse (p=0.015, Fisher’s exact test= 0.010). Dissatisfaction with SRH education was associated with a higher likelihood of not using contraceptives (p=0.046). Older adolescents (18-20 years) were more likely to engage in unprotected sex than younger ones (16-17 years). However, no significant associations were found between parental employment, living arrangements (p=0.303
and 0.052 respectively) and contraception use. The perception of reproductive health services as friendly and the attitude of healthcare providers significantly influence contraceptive use. Adolescents who viewed SRH services negatively were less likely to use protection (p=0.019).
Conclusion: Recommendations were made to provide massive public education to raise awareness about the negative consequences of teenage pregnancy and increase access to adolescent-friendly sexual and reproductive education and contraceptives.