Of all the pregnancies that occur in the world, half are unintended and unplanned. 

The State of World Population Report 2022, titled; “Seeing the Unseen: reveals that 50% of the pregnancies in the world are accidental.  

An estimated 121 million pregnancies each year take place in women who did not choose pregnancy or motherhood and who were not planning to have a child with that partner.   

This is because many women are unable to obtain contraception that works for their bodies or circumstances, and every form of contraception has a failure rate, the report by the United Nations Population Fund (UNFPA) says.  

About 257 million women around the world who want to avoid pregnancy are not using safe and modern forms of contraception. Among them, 172 million are not using any method at all, the report says.  

This is not because they lack access or knowledge, but because of fear and experience of side effects, and among other opposition to contraception, myths and misinformation.   

As a result, about 60% of these unintended pregnancies end up in abortions.   

A total of 121 million abortions occur globally and 331daily, 45% of all these abortions being unsafe.  

Consequently, unsafe abortions is a leading cause of maternal deaths globally and hospitalizes millions of women every year.  

Uganda’s teenage pregnancy    

Last year, everyday 1,052 pregnancies were recorded in the country, a figure higher than the 985 pregnancies registered daily the year before.  

A total 31,565 pregnancies were registered monthly, a figure higher than the 29,557 recorded monthly in 2020.   

Even worse 250 children below the age of 15 got pregnant monthly last year, according to findings of a new report “The Economic and Social Burden of Teenage Pregnancy in Uganda: The Cost of Inaction.”   

But the figures could be even higher given not all girls attend antenatal care which is used to give the pregnancy measure.  

For 15 years’ teenage pregnancy stagnated at 25% even when the country aimed to get that figure to 15% by 2020.  

When COVID-19 struck teenage pregnancy skyrocketed. Schools had closed down and at home young people were subjected to sexual abuse.  

Busoga sub-region statistically registered the highest number of pregnancies in girls below 15 years last year, and in 2020. Rwenzori region with nine districts and a city and Northcentral sub-regions with 12 districts followed closely.  

Kigezi, Kampala, Acholi, and Karamoja had the lowest numbers.  

Teenage girls between 15-19 years contribute to the largest number of antenatal care first visits. Busoga sub-region recorded 45,822 pregnancies last year. Daily 127 pregnancies were registered and 3,819 monthly. The biggest number of girls were from Mayuge, Kamuli and Bugiri districts.  

The District Health Information System says the increasing rate of teenage pregnancy is worsened by poor sexual and reproductive health services.   

As a result, one in four (25%) of girls across the country have had a child or are pregnant. Thirty-four percent (34%) are being married off by 18 years.  

The 2020 national survey on violence also revealed that over the last 45 years more than half of the girls have experienced childhood sexual abuse which may also explain the unchanging level of teenage pregnancy  

Young girls are having their sexual debut at about 17 years. There is a high unmet need for family planning among adolescents standing at 30%.  

This is in addition to gender-based violence. Hence, the high cases of teenage pregnancies.  

The cost of inaction  

Every fertile woman or girl bears some risk of experiencing an unintended pregnancy, research shows.  

If no action is taken to reduce childhood sexual abuse 50% of teenage girls will be at risk of pregnancy each year and teen mothers will continue to suffer the most deaths while giving birth, the NPC and UNFPA report shows.  

About 64% of teenage mothers will not complete primary education and 60% will end up in peasant agriculture work, and more than sh645 billion ($181.8m) will be spent by government every year on the healthcare of teenage mothers and the education of their children.