Introduction:

Teenage pregnancy is a conception of pregnancy that ensues for girls between 13 and 19 years of age Yohannes et al. 2018. Teenage pregnancy is widely considered a global crisis due to the social-economic and health risks associated with it and should not be treated insouciantly World Health Organization WHO 2018. WHO also states that Underage pregnancy is a worldwide societal issue that has a negative impact on adolescent girlsfuture. Findings by Thomas et al. 2019 revealed that about 16 million minors aged between 15 and 19 years are found to conceive per year. In addition Thomas et al. 2019 continue to report that this number makes up about 11 per cent of all births worldwide. Therefore adolescent pregnancy births and related negative consequences remain a challengein several countries. According to Steitieh2021 during the Covid-19 pandemic lockdown a surge in teenpregnancies was reported nationally were in excess of 152000 teenage girls in Kenya became pregnant between March and May 2020. Nyandarua North sub-county had more than 857 cases of girls aged from 10 to 19 years who were impregnated between January and June of the same year National Council for Population Distribution report NCPD 2020. Notably the statistics only included cases recorded in the health sector so there could have been many more pregnant teenagers who did not go to the health facilities. Teenage pregnancy is a serious problem in Kenya and it must remain at the top of the governments political agenda. It only comes up in public conversation when there is a surge in which it will be buried and life goes on as usual.Teenage pregnancies may be ascribed to parental/caregivers religious leaders political leaders and other stakeholdersresistance to sexual and reproductive health issues despite rising evidence that young people are commencing sex earlier than in the past. Proven strategies such as comprehensive sexuality education are being omitted since they are perceived to encourage young people to engage in sexual activity. Pregnancy and health issues shame alienation and abuse by partners parents and classmates are severe consequences for pregnant underage females. Another consequence is increased cases of school dropouts. The surge in teenage pregnancies was reported at a time when teenagers were at home and the government had directed that all schools and places of worship be shut down so that the effects of the pandemic could be mitigated. It is critical that evidence plays a vital role in identifying strategies thatcan solve the problem at its source. Against this backdrop this research sought to investigate the efficacy of parental and community guidance in preventing pregnancy among teenagers in Nyandarua North Sub-County to come up with recommendations on how the challenge can be addressed in the area and the country at large

Objectives:

study aimed to investigate the local communitys role in preventing teenage girlspregnancy in Nyandarua North Sub-county Kenya

Methodology:

The study applied Social Cognitive Theory using a descriptive cross-sectional survey research design data was collected from a target population of 14 chiefs from the fourteen locations within the sub-county and 27917 households. An accessible population of 569 households was identified to take part in the research-using cluster purposive and snowballing sampling. All chiefs in the fourteen locations took part in the study. The data was obtained through interviews and questionnaires. The instruments were systematically assessed for validity through review by experts in the School of Education Kabarak University and by carrying out a pilot study comprising 30 households in Nyandarua Central Sub-County to ensure questionnaires gathered the information required by the study. Qualitative data was analysed descriptively whichwas further analysed using version 24.0 of the Statistical Package for Social Sciences SPS

Findings:

Effective guidance of youths on sexual matters requires a concerted effort by all community members Kemigisha et al. 2019.According to Solanke et al. 2019appreciation is growing among teenagers to community programs that support them in making choices relating to their future. However according to the information provided by the key respondents community-initiated projects for mentoring teen girls with a view to preventing teen pregnancies in Nyandarua North sub-county are not there. On the other hand most of the chiefs interviewed indicated that there were community-initiated projects based at the location level. However the chiefs observed that several factors undermined the projects. These factors included inadequate funding of the projects teens are not aware of the existence of the mentoring sessions as well a lack of properly trained persons to effectively implement the projects. As a result most of the teen girls indicated that they have never attended the mentoring sessions a factor that could contribute to the surge in teenage pregnancies within the Nyandarua North sub-county. According to the teen girls for the mentoring sessions to be effective several factors need to be put in place among them empowering members of the community throughthe provision of adequate funds to enable them to carry out awareness campaigns on teenage pregnancy prevention educating them on ways and means of handling teens through capacity building and educating teen parents/caregivers on how to support teenagers. The chiefs interviewed pointed out that the main causes that have contributed to a surge in teen pregnancies within Nyandarua North sub-county were teen girls dating older men especially Boda Boda operators idleness and lack of recreation activities especially during the Covid-19 pandemic period when schools and places of worship had been shut down inadequate sexuality information among teenagers peer pressure sexual experimentation media influence poverty failure to use contraceptives a parental absence where there is no monitoring or supervision of teens activities leaving in small rental houses where some parents expose their children to sex as well as increased substance abuse like alcohol by teenagers. According to chiefs the consequences of the surge in teen pregnancies within the sub-county have been due to increased poverty among households since they do not have enough resources to care for the young ones increased school dropouts and health problems to teen girls who become pregnant. Chiefs further indicated that the government has embarked on measures to curb teen pregnancies within the area some of the measures are the provision of sanitary towels to teen girls from poor backgrounds who may be vulnerable and chiefs ensuring that all teenagers are teenagers within their locations are going to school. In addition the chiefs noted that the members of the community are key players in preventing teen pregnancies through being positive role models adopting collective responsibilityin parenting teenagers within the community some chiefs suggested the reintroduction of corporal punishment in schools and at home and indulging community members in youth participation programs such as sports and talent training of teenagers so that they can inculcate societal norms and values offer guidance to teens as they make informed decisions about their future. The fourth question was to identify the role played by the local community in curbing teenage pregnancy where it was established that members should undertake collective parenting and act as role models to the teens.According to the information provided by teen girls community-initiated projects for mentoring with a view to preventing teen pregnancies in Nyandarua North sub-county are not there. The chiefs interviewed indicated that there were community-initiated projects that were based at the location level. However the chiefs observed that the projects were undermined by several factors that included inadequate funding of the projects teens lacking awareness of the existence of the mentoring sessions and a lack of properly trained persons to effectively implement the projects. Teen girls indicated that they have never attended the mentoring sessions in the community. On the other hand they intimated that for the sessions to be effective several factors need to be put in place which includes empowering members of the community through the provision of adequate funds to enable them to carry out awareness campaigns on teenage pregnancy prevention educating community members on ways and means of handling teens through capacity building and educating teen parents/caregivers on how to support teenagers.According to chiefs the main causes of a surge in teen pregnancies within Nyandarua North sub-county were teen girls dating older men especially Boda Boda operators idleness and lack of recreation activities during the Covid-19 pandemic period when schools and places of worship had been shut down inadequate sexuality information among teenagers peer pressure sexual experimentation media influence poverty failure to use contraceptives a parental absence that leads to reduced monitoring or supervision of teens activities parents leaving in small rental houses where some children get exposed to sex as well as increased alcohol and substance abuse by teenagers. Moreover chiefs intimated those consequences of a surge in teen pregnancies within the sub-county are increased poverty among households increased rate of school dropouts and health problems to the affected teen girls. The chiefs reported that the government has put in place measures to avert teen pregnancies within the Nyandarua North which include the provision of sanitary towels to vulnerable teen girls and the government through chiefs ensuring that all teenagers within their locations are going to school. On the role of community members the chiefs noted that they play a pivotal role in preventing teen pregnancies by providing positive role models and adoption of collective responsibility when parenting teenagers. On teen pregnancy prevention several chiefs who were interviewed suggested the reintroduction of corporal punishment in schools and at home engaging members of the community in youth participation programs and offering guidance to teens to enable them to make informed decisions about their future.

Results:

. The study also found that community-initiated projects for mentoring teen girls are present in the location from information gathered from chiefs but most girls were not aware of this. In addition it was noted that teen girls are dating older men especially Boda Boda operators.

Conclusion:

The study established that community-initiated projects for mentoring teen girls are present in the location from information gathered from chiefs. However most teen girls mentioned that they were not aware of their existence. This is an indicator of ineffective mentorship programs in the community which may contribute to a surge in teen pregnancy.In addition most teen girls indicated that they have never attended the mentoring sessions a factor that could contribute to the surge in teenage pregnancies within the Nyandarua North sub-county. Chiefs noted that several effective factors should be put in place for mentoring sessions to be. These factors are empowering members of the community through the provision of adequate funds to enable them to carry out awareness campaigns on teenage pregnancy prevention educating community members on ways and means of handling teens through capacity building and educating parents/caregivers on how to support teenagers. The major causes of a surge in teen pregnancy within Nyandarua North as noted by the majority of the chiefs interviewed were teen girls dating older men especially Boda Boda operators idleness due to lack of recreation activities especially during the Covid-19 pandemic period when schools and places of worship had been shut down inadequate sexuality information peer pressure sexual experimentation media influence poverty failure to use contraceptives parental absence leaving in small rental houses where some parents expose their children to sex as well as increased alcohol and substance abuse by teenagers

Author(s):

Focus County(s):

Nyandarua County

Programme Area(s):

Sexual, Reproductive, Adolescent & Child Health

Research Priority Area(s):

adolescent health

Disease Domain(s):

Reproductive Health

Publication Date: 30.Mar.2022

Conference Title:

Venue: