title: Poor pregnancy outcomes among adolescents in South Nyanza region of Kenya.
abstract: In this paper, we examine factors associated with poor pregnancy outcomes among teenagers in South Nyanza region of Kenya. The analysis is based on a recent WHO funded study on Adolescent safe motherhood in the region, which involved a survey of 1247 adolescents aged 12-19 and in-depth interviews with 39 of the adolescents who had experienced very early pregnancies or a pregnancy wastage. The indicators of poor pregnancy outcomes analysed include pregnancy wastage and pre-term delivery. A striking finding is the unusually high rate of pre-term deliveries, especially in cases of unintended pregnancies. Analysis of the qualitative data based on in-depth interviews sheds some light on possible explanations for the poor pregnancy outcomes observed among these adolescents. In particular, unsafe abortion attempts and poor maternal health-care emerge as important issues of concern.
authors.affiliation: Centre for Research in Social Policy, Department of Social Sciences, Loughborough University, Leicestershire, UK. m.a.magadi@lboro.ac.uk
authors.forename: Monica
authors.initials: M
authors.lastname: Magadi
mesh_terms: D000028:Abortion, Induced; D000022:Abortion, Spontaneous / Q000453:epidemiology; D000293:Adolescent; D000328:Adult; D000367:Age Factors; D002648:Child; D005260:Female; D006801:Humans; D007630:Kenya / Q000453:epidemiology; D011247:Pregnancy; D011256:Pregnancy Outcome / Q000453:epidemiology*; D011253:Pregnancy in Adolescence / Q000706:statistics & numerical data*; D049168:Pregnancy, Unplanned; D047928:Premature Birth / Q000453:epidemiology / Q000209:etiology; D011295:Prenatal Care / Q000706:statistics & numerical data; D012959:Socioeconomic Factors