Browsing by Author "Ndungu, E."

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    Determinants of Contraceptive Uptake among Youths Aged 18-25 Years in Nakuru County
    (2016) Maingi, Nancy; Githaiga, J.; Okova, R.; Karonjo, J.; Ndungu, E.
    Introduction Globally, there are over 1.8 billion young people and nearly 90 percent of whom live in developing countries. The age-range 18 to 24 is a period when most people begin to actively explore their sexuality (UNFPA, 2009). Most people become sexually active before their 20th birthday (UNFPA, 2009). One in every 10 births and one in 10 abortions worldwide and one in six births in developing countries is to women aged between 18-19 years (UNFPA, 2009). In sub-Saharan Africa, 75 percent of young women report having had sex by age 20(UNFPA, 2009).Despite continued investments in adolescent sexual and reproductive health (SRH) programs worldwide, challenges still exist in adequately meeting the SRH information and service needs of this subset of the population. These challenges are more pronounced in sub- Saharan Africa which, among the major regions of the world, has the greatest proportion of adolescent girls who have begun childbearing (Gupta &Mahy 2003). In Kenya 15% of women age 15-19 have already had a birth while 18 percent have begun childbearing (had a live birth or are pregnant with their first child). The percentage of women who have begun childbearing increases rapidly with age, from about 3 percent among women age 15 to 40 percent among women age 19 (KDHS, 2014-15). Materials and Methods Descriptive cross-section study on youths 18-25years in the Nakuru County ; Systematic random sampling was used in selection of 189 respondents. Results The findings revealed that 59% of the respondents were married while 16% were married, 55 % were self- employed, 33 % are employed either in public or private sector while 13 % were un employed. Fifty one percent of the respondents have never used family planning .The study showed that 42.3 %of the respondents use condoms while 1.1 % use implants . Fifty three percent of the respondents said they did not use contraceptives because of religion and culture, while 19 % said they are not sexually active. Seventy four percent of the respondents learnt of contraceptives from hospital/health workers. Fifty eight percent of the respondents said the distance to the hospital was 1-5km while 42 % said it is above 5km. Majority of the respondents 56% disliked the approach used by the health. Twenty nine percent acknowledged that they had been denied FP services by health care workers because of age. Discussion and Conclusion Forty four percent of the respondents were uncomfortable with environment the services were offered. This support observation of Johnross (2002) that lack of privacy can violate women's sense of modesty and make it more difficult for them to participate actively in selecting a contraceptive method. 59 % of the respondents wait for more than 1 hour,24 % for 30 minutes while17% % said they wait for one hour before being served. Availability and accessibility of different contraceptive methods influence the use of different contraceptive methods. Demographic attributes that include age, gender, level of literacy, marital status, number of children and desire for more children are major determinants of contraceptives usage. Social, cultural aspects such as religious affiliations and the stigma surrounding young people’s sexuality may deter them from seeking family planning services as some contraceptive methods go contrary to cultural beliefs
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    Factors Contributing To Abortions among Youths Aged 18 -25 in Rift Valley Provincial General Hospital Nakuru
    (2016) Maingi, Nancy; Ndungu, J.; Ndungu, E.; Okova, R.
    Background Worldwide, unsafe abortion persists as a serious and continuing public health challenge (WHO, 2011). Unsafe abortion mainly endangers women in developing countries where it is highly restricted by law and countries where, although legally permitted, safe abortion is not easily accessible (WHO 2012). Of estimated 464,690 induced abortions in Kenya, majority is unsafe; involving girls and young women aged 10-24 years (APHRC, MOH, 2013). In Kenya, severe complications of unsafe abortions were most common among women aged 10- 19 (45%), divorced women (56%) (MOH, 2013) . The Cost of unsafe abortion to healthcare system is approximated at Ksh 250–300 million annually (CRR, 2010). In Nakuru provincial general hospital there were total of 604 abortions in 2014 out of which 63% involved the youth in the range of 18 to 25 years. Abortions are currently claiming 30-40% of maternal deaths in Kenya, far more than the worldwide average of 13% (WHO, 2011). Methods The study was a descriptive cross sectional study .Systematic random sampling technique was used to pick 192 participants. The sample was determined using the formula by W. G. Cochran (2011). Data collection was through questionnaires, key informant interview and focused group discussions. Ethical clearance was sought from Mount Kenya University ethics review committee. Results Majority 57.3% of the respondents have had an abortion while 42.7% have never had an abortion. 67% of the respondents had unprotected sex, 21% undertook abortion following rape, while 12% did it because of medical reasons. 33.3% respondents’ parents don’t know their daughters have had an abortion 37% of the respondents agreed they would never attempt an abortion again. 55.7% of the respondents think youths require guidance and counseling. 85.9% of the respondents are comfortable talking to a friend matters concerning sexuality, 9.4% are comfortable talking to parents, 3.6% would be comfortable talking to the teacher, while 1% would be comfortable talking to a health worker. On whether the respondents attributed their getting pregnant to the influence of the drugs, 61% attributed it to influence of the drugs, while 39% did not attribute it to drug influence. A key informant indicated, “reasons for inducing an abortion included: wanting to continue with studies, relationship problems and socio-cultural factors.” “Misoprostol was revealed to be the most frequently used method to end pregnancy while mechanical means, such as insertion of a foreign object or substance through the cervix and use of herbs were however commonly reported.” Key informant interview revealed that lack of information on sexual reproductive health (SRH) was a major issue among youths. Conclusion Use of drugs has a role to play in the high rate of abortions among youth 18-25 as 66.1% of youth were under influence of alcohol during their first sex and these affected the decision making and negotiating for safer sex. There is a dire need for sexual health education.