In every eight adolescent girls, one of them is either pregnant or has delivered, a survey conducted by the National Council for Population development (NCPD) has indicated.
The report released today 8th,November 2021 highlited that Nairobi county leads in teen pregnancies amongst adolescents aged 10-14 years of age and this is based on statistics between January and October 2021.
This statistics indicate an improvement in Nairobi county where there is a notable drop of 2,379 cases; a decrease from 2020 when the cases were 2,598.
The capital city was followed by Homa Bay County which had 1,530 cases, Kajiado county had 1,496; Mandera County 1,370 and Bomet county 1,041 cases.
Counties reporting high adolescent pregnancy among girls aged 15 to 19 in 2021 include; Bungoma with 10,291, Meru 10,406, Kakamega 11,594, Narok 9,879 and Nairobi 13,319.
The report indicated that teenage pregnancy is multifaceted with major drivers varying across counties.In the Eastern Region, half the counties reported an increase in adolescent pregnancy.
One in five Kenyan teenage girls is a mother. The National Council on Population and Development recorded 379,573 teenage pregnancies in 2019.
Every year, about 13,000 Kenyan girls drop out of school due to unplanned pregnancies.
Major drivers include sexual violence, inadequate reproductive health information and services, forced marriage, poverty, lack of parental guidance and peer pressure.
The report noted that ending adolescent pregnancy requires a multi-sectoral approach.
