Understanding premarital pregnancies among adolescents and young women in Ouagadougou, Burkina Faso.

Yempabou Bruno Lankoande,Grace Spencer,Yacouba Compaore,Abdramane Bassiahi Soura,Souleymane Sanogo,Leigh Senderowicz

doi:10.1080/23311886.2018.1514688

Abstract

In developing countries, young women between 15 and 24 years of age account for more than 40% of unsafe abortions due to the high number of unwanted and/or out-of-wedlock pregnancies. However, much about the profile of adolescents and young women who usually experience premarital pregnancies remains unknown. This study sought to understand the risk of pregnancy before marriage among adolescents and young women in Ouagadougou, Burkina Faso. By using longitudinal data from a demographic surveillance system, we tested the explanatory power of two theoretical assumptions on premarital childbearing in sub-Saharan Africa, which assumptions are the cultural inheritance model and the social capital model. The results confirmed the explanatory power of the cultural inheritance model on the one hand and partially confirmed the power of the social capital model on the other hand. These results highlight the need for a multipronged approach to sexual and reproductive health for young people. Efforts against premarital pregnancies among adolescents and young women would be more effective if they were based on participatory approaches, incorporating actions at both community and institutional levels, as suggested by the recent Global Accelerated Action for the Health of Adolescents logical framework.

Highlights

A large number of studies in sub-Saharan Africa showed that premarital sexual activity is increasing, and more and more occurring at an early age in many countries (Gupta & Mahy, 2003; Mensch, Grant, & Blanc, 2006; UNICEF, 2015; Wellings et al, 2006)
Pregnancies among adolescents and young women before marriage are a major issue in Burkina Faso
This paper aims at reporting findings from a study that sought to identify some explanatory factors of premarital pregnancies among adolescents and young women in Ouagadougou, the capital city of Burkina Faso

Summary

Introduction

A large number of studies in sub-Saharan Africa showed that premarital sexual activity is increasing, and more and more occurring at an early age in many countries (Gupta & Mahy, 2003; Mensch, Grant, & Blanc, 2006; UNICEF, 2015; Wellings et al, 2006). Findings from Sedgh et al (2016) showed that between 1990 and 2014, approximately 86% of all abortions worldwide occurred in low- and middle-income countries, and the most recent data disaggregated by age showed that in 2008, young women aged 15–24 years accounted for 41% of all unsafe abortions in these countries (Shah & Åhman, 2012). Childbearing may negatively affect maternal and child health, while out-of-wedlock pregnancies may have adverse socioeconomic outcomes (Adjamagbo et Kone, 2013; Karra & Lee, 2012). If the premarital pregnancy is unwanted, it may still have serious consequences for the child’s living conditions (Adjamagbo et Kone, 2013). Findings from Calves (2000) showed that in some African societies, children born out of wedlock are exposed to certain forms of discrimination

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Conclusion