Study Identifies Factors Responsible For High Abortion, Unwanted Pregnancy Among Lagos, Osun Teenagers
A study carried out by Nigerian researchers has shown that unwanted pregnancy and induced abortion among teenagers living on the streets are high, especially in Lagos state and Osogbo, Osun state.
The study, which involved researchers from Babcock University, Ilishan, Ogun State, and Obafemi Awolowo University, Ile-Ife, Osun State, was published on the BMC Health Services Research Open access portal.
The researchers discovered that many street-involved teenagers are school dropouts, noting that the increased rate of unintended pregnancies among them is related to inadequate education.
The researchers found that many street teenagers aged between 15 and 19 years, who became pregnant, are significantly less likely to abort.
According to the researchers, a large proportion of female street-involved adolescents (SIAs) are sexually active with a high incidence of unintended pregnancy and a high rate of unsafe abortion.
While stressing that access of female SIAs to education can reduce the risk of unintended pregnancy, the study found that induced abortion was due to multiple sexual partners, rejection of pregnancy by a sexual partner, and poor financial status.
During the survey, 1,505 young people aged 10 to 24 years, who either live “on the street” (working on the streets and returning home to families at night) or live “of the street” (they never return home or have no contact with any family member) were interviewed.
The participants were recruited from Bariga and Ajah for the Lagos sample, while those for Osun State were from Oke-Baale and Olaiya/Sabo, which are officially recognised sites, where there are large clusters of SIA between January and February 2019.
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The researchers examined the effects of age, history of school attendance, work position, religion, living situation, and city of residency on previous pregnancies and induced abortions.
After the survey, the researchers found that of the 424 female SIAs, 270 reported having had sex. 64 respondents had a history of pregnancy, of which 38 gave a history of induced abortion of the last pregnancy.
The study also found that SIAs aged 15 to 19 were much less likely to terminate their pregnancies, and that a history of school attendance dramatically decreased the risk of becoming pregnant.
Additionally, among the sexually active SIAs, unexpected pregnancy and induced abortion were frequent occurrences.
Many participants were familiar with the procedures and locations for inducing abortions. The researchers added,
“The study highlights that the factors associated with an unwanted pregnancy and those associated with induced abortion differ among female SIAs, 10–19 years old in South-west Nigeria.
“The prevalence of unwanted pregnancy and induced abortion is high. These findings highlight the need for further studies to identify the peculiar needs of SIAs, to help inform policy formulations and program development that will address these needs in Nigeria.
“A large proportion of SIAs are sexually active with a high incidence of unintended pregnancy and a high rate of unsafe abortion. Access of female SIAs to education can reduce the risk of unintended pregnancy. Attention needs to be paid to how SIAs can have access to contraception.”
A 2018 report by the Department of Radiography, College of Medicine, University of Lagos, disclosed that an estimated 610, 000 induced abortions occur annually in Nigeria, accounting for approximately 40 per cent of maternal deaths.
It stated that several studies on abortion morbidity and mortality have reported that teenagers constitute the majority of victims of illegal or unsafe abortion.
The report further stated that unsafe abortion remained one of the most neglected sexual and reproductive health problems faced by developing countries.
According to a joint study carried out by the Society of Gynecologists and Obstetricians of Nigeria and the Nigeria Ministry of Health, unsafe abortion kills 20,000 women annually while half of the figures are teenagers below the age of 19.
Abortion in Nigeria is illegal and carries a heavy jail sentence of up to 14 years imprisonment unless performed to save the life of the woman.
Section 230 of the Criminal Code Act, Chapter 77 of the Laws of the Federation of Nigeria, 1990, explicitly spelt out punitive measures for anyone that supplies drugs or instruments to procure abortion.
“Any person who unlawfully supplies to or procures for any person anything whatever, knowing that it is intended to be unlawfully used to procure the miscarriage of a woman, whether she is or is not with child, is guilty of a felony, and is liable to imprisonment for three years,”
it stated.