The lived experience of teenage girls who became pregnant during the Covid-19 Lockdown in Uganda: A study of Kikubampanga Zone in Kakiri Town Council Wakiso District

Abstract

The study focused on understanding the pregnant adolescents' circumstances and experiences during the lockdown period in Kikubampanga Zone-Wakiso District. The objectives of the study included: to analyse the factors that contributed teenage pregnancy in Kikubampanga Zone-Wakiso District during the COVID-19 lockdown; to assess the major challenges and impacts faced by the teenage girls who got pregnant during the COVID-19 lockdown in Kikubampanga Zone-Wakiso District and to analyse the lessons learnt by the teenage girls who got pregnant during the COVID-19 lockdown in Kikubampanga Zone-Wakiso District. The study was conducted in Kikubampanga Zone-Wakiso District and conducted for a period of two weeks. A Cross Sectional and Descriptive research design was used for this study and the data collection tools were interviews and observations, it targeted 18 participants, which included pregnant teenage girls, girls who have ever experienced teenage pregnancy in the adolescent stage and during the COVID-19 lockdown, mothers of the pregnant teenage girls, cultural and local leaders within Kikubampanga Zone. The findings indicate that there were a lot of experiences faced by pregnant teenagers during the lockdown period. Conclusions from this case study are based on the respondents’ views as well as the views expressed in chapter two. The findings strongly indicate that stress, fear of labour pains, damage to the reproductive system, and anxiety of caring for the baby. Lack of the partners’ support in addition to disapproval by community members, family, and rejoicing teenagers that had earlier dropped out of school for various reasons. The restricted lockdown of movements where the pregnant teenagers couldn’t easily access antenatal services, the slow services at health centers due to lockdown, poor feeding due to lack of money because most people were not working and generally, stress was biting the teenagers hard, regret, fear of death, fear of ruined future and getting rejected by the community and family dominated the lives of the pregnant teenagers during the period.