By Daniel Mwesigwa
Authentic figures show that between January and September 2021, Uganda recorded a total of 290,219 teenage pregnancies.
This is according to UNFPA Uganda Fact Sheet on teenage On Teenage Pregnancy, 2021 published on their website on December 9, 2021.
These figures mean that the country recorded 32, 000 cases monthly. This is likely to surpass numbers in 2020 by end of year.
Data shows that about 2 in 10 (18.9%) pregnancies in all women attending first antenatal care were among teenagers in 2020 while 6 in 10 (60.3%) child births among teenagers were under skilled health personnel in 2020.
According to UNFPA Uganda, the number of teenage pregnancies increased by 6.4% between 2017 and 2018, then reduced by 2.1% from 2018 to 2019 and then by about 0.9% between 2019 and 2020.
Although there is no marked increase in teenage pregnancy between 2019 and
2020, however it is worth noting there is marked increase in teenage pregnancy within districts in 2020 (49.3% that is 67/136).
Importantly, however, teenage pregnancy has generally stagnated since
2006.
43% of women 25-49 years reported having married by 18 years in 2016.
20.7% married adolescents (15-19 years) use modern contraceptive methods in
2016.
30.4% of married adolescent girls (15-19 years) have unmet need for family planning (for spacing and limiting) in 2016.
21.9% of currently married adolescents (15-19 years) had met need for family planning in 2016.
Uganda’s maternal Mortality Ratio (MMR) stood at 336 deaths per 100,000 live-births and regarding maternal mortality rates, 17.2 percent of the deaths were among those aged 15-19.
According to Uganda Bureau of Statistics UBOS (2018), almost a quarter one in four or 25%) of Ugandan women has given birth by the age of 18.
Credit: UNFPA Uganda
