Up to 10,000 girls drop out of school every year in Kenya because of pregnancy. Factors that contribute to this shocking statistic include the fact that parents hardly don’t talk to their children about sex, children lack information about changes in their bodies, and inability to deal with the sexual urges that come naturally at puberty. However, adolescents can be taught to make appropriate decisions, be assertive and resist sexual activity.
According to the KDHS 2022, if current fertility levels were to remain constant, a woman in Kenya would bear an average of 3.4 children in her lifetime. Fertility is low among adolescents (73 births per 1,000 women aged 15–19), and peaks at 179 births per 1,000 among women aged 20–24, before decreasing thereafter.
Fifteen percent of women aged 15–19 have ever been pregnant; 12% have had a live birth, 1% have had a pregnancy loss, and 3% are currently pregnant. The percentage of women aged 15–19 who have ever been pregnant increases with age, from 3% among those aged 15 to 31% among those aged 19. About 4 in 10 women aged 15–19 who have no education have ever been pregnant, as compared with only 5% of women who have more than secondary education.
It is important to appreciate key terminologies associated with pregnancy.
Fertilisation
This takes place when a male sperm cell meets a female egg. Millions of sperm are deposited into the vagina during sexual intercourse. After the male ejaculates in the vagina, ejaculated sperm swim up through the cervix into the uterus. The woman’s body helps guide the sperm through the uterus into the fallopian tubes. If a mature egg (or more than one egg in the case of twins) is present, fertilisation can take place. Although thousands of sperm may be present, only one sperm cell can penetrate the egg. Sperm can fertilise an egg up to seven days after intercourse. If an egg is fertilised, it will move from the fallopian tube into the uterus (womb) where it will grow.
Implantation
This takes place when a fertilised egg attaches itself to the lining of the woman’s uterus. The nutrients in the lining of the uterus are used to support the growth of the egg into a foetus and then a baby. The woman will not experience periods during pregnancy because the lining of the uterus, which normally sheds during menstruation, is not shed at all during pregnancy. The implanted egg grows in the uterus for nine months before the baby is born through the process of childbirth.
Antenatal care is care provided by skilled health-care professionals to pregnant women and adolescent girls in order to ensure the best health conditions for both mother and baby during pregnancy.
Intrapartum care is care provided by skilled health-care professionals to women and adolescent girls during childbirth in order to ensure the best health conditions for both mother and baby.
Postnatal care is care provided by skilled health-care professionals to women and adolescent girls and their babies up to six weeks following childbirth in order to ensure the best health conditions for both mother and baby.