Premarital sex and premarital childbearing is a source of stigma in many African communities and can negatively affect adolescent girls' sexual and reproductive health experiences. This study seeks to provide insight into the strategies adolescent girls adopt to avoid stigmatization due to premarital sex and/or childbearing by their community members and families. Using a mixed methods approach, data were collected from a survey of 500 adolescent girls out of which 20 were purposively selected for in-depth interviews. The strategies adopted by adolescent girls to avoid stigma varied based on the pregnancy status of girls, that is whether they have never had a child (nonpregnant [NP]) or had ever had a child (ever-pregnant [EP]). To avoid stigma associated with premarital sex, some NP girls abstained from sex and others who were sexually active either kept their relationships secret or used contraceptives secretly. For the EP girls, some tried to minimize stigma to premarital childbearing by going back to school after childbirth or learning a trade or a vocation. Some EP girls also got married to the fathers of their babies to avoid stigma. Overall, the desire to feel accepted by community members pushed adolescent girls to adopt strategies to avoid the stigma associated with premarital sex and childbearing. It is recommended that there should be creation of awareness for community members on the need to support adolescent girls to minimize the risk they may be predisposed to in their sexual and reproductive health.

This study focuses on how older adolescent girls access and utilize social capital to develop resilience against teenage pregnancy in Begoro, Ghana. A survey of 419 non-pregnant girls aged 15-19 years, selected using a multi-stage cluster sampling technique, was conducted in 2012. Qualitative data were gathered through in-depth interviews with ten girls purposively selected from the survey respondents. Parents, relatives, teachers and religious groups were found to be important sources of social capital for the non-pregnant girls in developing resilience against teenage pregnancy. In addition, resilient girls tended to rely on multiple sources of social capital. It is recommended that stakeholders and policymakers in Ghana ensure that these significant sources of social capital in adolescent girls' sexual experience are equipped with the right information to help girls decrease the risk of teenage pregnancy.

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The family size in Ghana is increasingly changing from large to small family sizes due to modernization. As societies become modernized, couples begin to limit their family size despite the high value society places on children in marriage and the family. In this study, we explore the factors influencing reproductive behaviour among Ghanaian dual-earner couples by highlighting the subjective views on factors that influence the number of children they have or hope to have as a couple. A qualitative approach was used to collect and analyse data. Data were gathered through in-depth interviews with 47 dual-earner couples from rural and urban communities selected from five regions in Ghana. Twenty key informant interviews were held with community leaders to provide the social context of the study areas. The data were analysed thematically. The study observed that there were no differences in the factors influencing family size in rural and urban communities in Ghana. Also, the findings are consistent with previous studies that identified factors such as the cost of raising children and women’s participation in the labour force although the meanings and interpretations that couples attribute to these factors have changed slightly. Couples’ family size was influenced by the need to ensure a comfortable life for their children. Access to modern contraceptives and infertility also came up as influencing family size. Overall, the changing family size among dual earner couples can be attributed to a combination of factors that are interrelated and interdependent.