Parents need empowering to fight teenage pregnancy

TEENAGE PREGNANCIES   VIRUS

The continued staying home of children following the closure of schools due to Covid-19 restrictions is proving costly as more adolescent get pregnant than ever before in Uganda.

Schools in Uganda were closed in March as a precaution to stop the spread of Covid-19. Only candidate classes have been opened.

With children staying at home with their parents it was expected that parents would take a lead in helping girls stay safe, and prevent these pregnancies.

However, Covid-19 has exposed the parents' inability to manage their children and give them the right information about sexual reproductive health.

According to research findings by Makerere University, adolescents' lack access to the right information about sexual reproductive health although their preferred source of information is parents at 41%.

At least 32% of the adolescents prefer health facilities as the main source of information, 23% prefer schools, while 21% prefer peers and only 5% prefer social media.

Much us children prefer accessing information from parents and schools, it has been complicated by parents' lack of parenting skills for adolescents, parent's difficulty to discuss sexual reproductive health with adolescents which are key in preventing teenage pregnancy.

"During Covid when parents are spending more time with the children, we are seeing all these booming teenage pregnancies which means there is a gap that needs to be addressed," said Dr Nicolette Nabukeera, a principal investigator during the dissemination event held at Mulago Specialized Hospital on Thursday.

Titled the Sexual and Reproductive Health information and determinants of adolescent pregnancy among adolescents in Wakiso and Kamuli districts, the study that took six months and involved 600 adolescents between the age of 13 and 18 years.

The study was funded by the government of Uganda through the Makerere University Research and Innovation Fund.

According to findings that were presented during a virtual event on Friday, it was found that only 13% had accurate information about Sexual Reproductive Health.

"Parents need to talk to their children and give them the right information. However, these parents need to be empowered to provide the right information," Nabukeera said.

The research further found that at least 62% of the adolescents had ever had sex but only 47% used a condom in their last sexual encounter.

Only 50% had access to some form of sexual reproductive health information.

"Parents need to know that adolescents trust them and need them to give them accurate information," Nabukeera said.

Dr Joseph Rujumba from the Department of Pediatrics & Child Health, Makerere University noted that older adolescents have a higher risk of being pregnant and those out of school are four times likely to be pregnant than those in school.

"It is important to keep girls in school and create safe environments for adolescents at home. If parents are committed and empowered, they can help prevent these pregnancies," Rujumba says.

The research recommends training parents on parenting skills for adolescent, fostering child communication and creating quality time for their adolescents.

"Parents want to communicate but they don't know how to do it. Stakeholders should join hands and empower the parents on how to communicate better with children," Rujumba says.

It also calls for efforts to keep girls in school and improving family incomes.

In Uganda, as with many other countries around the world, Covid-19 has resulted in an increased rate of teenage pregnancy.

Teenage pregnancy rates are staggeringly high in Uganda at 25% with 1 in 4 adolescent girls have been pregnant by the age of 18.