Unintended pregnancy and associated factors among unmarried female students: A case of Bahir Dar University

Abstract

Background: Unintended pregnancy is a mistimed, unplanned or unwanted pregnancy at the time of conception. Unintended pregnancy has a number of adverse physical, mental, and social impacts. It brings illegal and unsafe abortions which are causes of maternal morbidity and mortality in the developing countries like Ethiopia. Even if such problem has significant impact on the community, there is scarcity of evidence on this issue in Ethiopian higher institutions. Therefore, this study was aimed to assess unintended pregnancy and associated factors among unmarried female students in Bahir Dar University, North West Ethiopia. Methods: A descriptive, cross-sectional study was conducted among unmarried female students at Bahir Dar University from March 1 st -30 th , 2018. Data were collected by self-administered questionnaire. Data were entered, cleaned, coded and analyzed using SPSS version 23.0. The statistical association between dependent and independent variables was assessed using logistic regressions. P-value <0.05 in the multivariable analysis was set to statistically significant. Result: Three hundred eighty-nine students had participated in the study making the response rate 92.00%. The prevalence of unintended pregnancy was 10.00%. Getting money from family (AOR: 0.16, 95% CI: [0.06, 0.42], p < 0.001) and being Health Science student (AOR: 0.40, 95% CI [0.16, 0.98], p < 0.001) were the preventive factors of unintended pregnancy. Being age of less than or equals to 18 years in the first sexual intercourse time (AOR: 6.31, 95% CI: [2.56, 15.53], p < 0.001) was positively associated with unintended pregnancy. Conclusion:In the current study the prevalence of unintended pregnancy was high among unmarried female University students. Unintended pregnancy was determined by the source of money, field of study and age at first sexual intercourse. Hence, students should use family as a source of money, abstain from early sexual intercourse and share experiences from Health Science students about the prevention of unintended pregnancies. In line with the alleviation of modifiable factors, health professionals should provide comprehensive reproductive health and contraceptive services to University students.

Adolescent pregnancy persists in Nigeria: Does household heads’ age matter?

“…Our study used a SEM to explore how household head age contributed to the persistent adolescent pregnancy in Nigeria, particularly during the study period between 2013 and 2018. This study demonstrates that the independent variables of interest (household head age at the SEM interpersonal level) examined for this study was associated with higher risk of adolescent pregnancy (intrapersonal level characteristics) in Nigeria aged 15–19 years during the study period; illustrating that this factor should be targeted with SEM-based preventive programs that allow intervention planners to take into account how community, organizational, and policy levels could also contribute to or diminish success of interventions [ 27 ]. Furthermore, the entry point for the intervention relative to household head age is evident at age group with higher prevalence of adolescent pregnancy: younger household heads (15–24 (58.5%) and 25–34 (62.9%).…”

“…Other factors at the interpersonal level are parents, household heads, family wealth, schools, teachers, peers, health care providers, friends, health literacy, marital status, household size, parenting style, beliefs, attitudes, and family norms. In contrast, policies enacted at the policy level of the SEM must interact or filter through three levels (organizational, community, and interpersonal) before reaching the intrapersonal level, therefore, planners must be attentive to policy alignment for any intervention to be effective, especially at the rural environment [ 27 , 28 ].…”

“…intervention planners to take into account how community, organizational, and policy levels could also contribute to or diminish success of interventions [27]. Furthermore, the entry point for the intervention relative to household head age is evident at age group with higher prevalence of adolescent pregnancy: younger household heads (15-24 (58.5%) and 25-34 (62.9%).…”

Prevalence of unintended pregnancy and associated factors among pregnant women attending antenatal clinics

“…Similarly, Gite [22] in Ethiopia, Belay. [23] In North West Ethiopia and Aly Nor [14]., Amasha, Salah Salama [24] in Port-said, Egypt found that the age at the first marriage less than or equal to 18 years were six times more likely to experience UP than their counter parts. Unlikely, Abdel-Haleem [25] revealed that women with unintended pregnancy were married at the age more than 20 compared to those who had intended pregnancy.…”

Prevalence and Determinants of Unintended Pregnancies among pregnant women in Western Uganda: A Hospital Based Cross-Sectional Study

“…16 Similarly, another study conducted revealed that having multiple sexual partners, non-use of condom and nonconsensual sex and sexual intercourse before high school potentiated unintended pregnancy. 17 The drivers of unintended pregnancies in sub-Saharan Africa are complex and operate at individual, household, community and policy levels. Understanding them is important to develop policies and effective interventions to reduce unintended pregnancies and unsafe abortion in the region.…”