Contraception and Conception

In a new study, researchers found that a large proportion of female street-involved adolescents (SIAs) are sexually active with a high incidence of unintended pregnancy and a high rate of unsafe abortion and called for attention to be paid to how they can have access to contraception.

The survey had involved 1,505 street-involved young people aged 10 to 24 years who either live “on the street” (working on the streets and return home to families at night) or live “of the street” (they never return home or have no contact with any family member)

The clusters of SIA in Lagos State were recruited from Bariga and Ajah, while those for Osun State were from Oke-Baale and Olaiya/Sab,o which are officially recognised sites where there are large clusters of SIA between January and February 2019.

It found that of the 424 female SIAs, 270 (63.7 percent) reported having had sex. Sixty-four (23.7 percent) respondents had a history of pregnancy, of which 38 (59.4 percent) gave a history of induced abortion of the last pregnancy.

Unintended pregnancy and induced abortion is a common experience among the sexually active street-involved adolescents, with a history of school attendance significantly reducing the likelihood of being pregnant, the study has revealed.

By Sade Oguntola
https://tribuneonlineng.com/unintended-pregnancy-abortion-in-street-involved-adolescents-in-lagos-osogbo-high-survey/