Abstract:

Among female adolescents, maternal deaths due to unsafe abortion and childbirth complications is a leading cause of death. Contraceptive use prevents unwanted pregnancies and reduces the need for unsafe abortion. This cross-sectional study was conducted among 174 adolescent girls, ages 15 – 19yrs, in two different settings (rural and urban). The knowledge of the adolescents on family planning, their attitude to the uptake of family planning and the actual uptake of family planning among them were assessed. A high knowledge level of 77% was observed among the respondents in rural settings and 92% among the respondents in urban settings. The respondents’ attitude was also found to be high, 78% in the rural setting and 84% in urban setting, this was linked to the high knowledge of family planning among the respondents. A low uptake level of 47% was observed among the respondents in rural setting and 67% among respondents in urban setting. The respondents’ overall uptake of family planning was observed to be 58% which is low and not commensurate with the high knowledge of family planning observed among the respondents. Therefore, to improve the uptake of family planning among the adolescents, it is important to create messages that will target their partners, parents, religious institutions, and the society to support contraceptives for adolescents. There should be youth friendly clinics that provide family planning services to adolescents in the communities, they require a comfortable environment where they could access family planning services without fear of prejudice.

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