Access to sexual and reproductive health services by teenage mothers at Naguru Teenage Information and Health Centre

Abstract

Despite the efforts that have been made to improve the access to sexual and reproductive health services, teenage mothers still have an unmet need for these services and access still remains limited. This study therefore analysed the access to sexual and reproductive health services by teenage mothers at Naguru Teenage Information and Health Centre. The centre was chosen because it offers sexual and reproductive health services to young people and has over the years registered an increase in teenagers who test positive for pregnancy. The specific objectives of the study were to find out the level of knowledge and awareness of sexual and reproductive health services of teenage mothers at NTHIC, to examine the factors influencing the access to sexual and reproductive health services by teenage mothers at NTHIC, and suggest ways of improving the access to sexual and reproductive health services from the teenage mothers point of view. The study had a sample of 25 teenage mothers who were between 14-19 years, selected using purposive sampling and from whom data was collected using in depth face to face interviews guided by unstructured questionnaires. After data was qualitatively analysed, it was found that the access to sexual and reproductive health services by teenage mothers still left a lot to be desired. The results showed that there is a still a knowledge gap when it comes to the level of knowledge and awareness of sexual and reproductive health services, which is exposed due the fact that teenage mothers are misinformed and have so many misconceptions about SRHS. Despite the little they know about the services, there are factors that can negatively influence their access to sexual and reproductive health services. However, it was noted that these teenage mothers recognise the need for improvement in access to these services, given they could point out a few credible suggestions in order to achieve this. The study was concluded by making recommendations that can improve the access to sexual and reproductive health services by teenage mothers.