Contraception Usage and Timing of Pregnancy among Pregnant Teenagers in Cape Town, South Africa
OBJECTIVE:
To
evaluate knowledge and use of contraception among pregnant teenagers in the
Cape Town metropolitan area.
METHODS:
A
cross-sectional study enrolled women aged 16 to 19 years who were pregnant and
attending prenatal clinics, and prenatal and labor wards at regional hospitals
and midwife-run obstetric clinics in the Cape Town area between March 1, 2011
and September 30, 2011. Data were collected using an administered questionnaire.
RESULTS:
The study
enrolled 314 participants. Of the participants, 240 (76.4%) felt their
pregnancies had occurred at the "wrong time" but only 38 (12.1%) were
using contraception at the time of conception. The form of contraception that
participants most commonly had knowledge of was injectable hormonal
contraception (274 [87.3%]). Contraception use was low, with 126 (40.1%)
participants having never used contraception. The forms of contraception used
most commonly were the male condom (106 [33.8%]) and injectable contraception
(98 [31.2%]). The majority of participants found it easy to get contraception
(192 [61.1%]) and felt that information regarding contraception was readily
available (233 [74.2%]).
CONCLUSION:
Contraception
use is suboptimal but this may not simply be a reflection of ineffective
family-planning services. Further research is needed to fully explain the lack
of contraceptive use in this population.
- 1Department of Obstetrics and Gynaecology, University of Cape Town, Cape Town, South Africa. Electronic address: lindivollmer@hotmail.com.
- 2Department of Obstetrics and Gynaecology, University of Cape Town, Cape Town, South Africa.
- Int J Gynaecol Obstet. 2016 Jan 28. pii: S0020-7292(16)00039-4. doi: 10.1016/j.ijgo.2015.10.011.
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