Early Pregnancy Issues in Sierra Leone

The issue of early pregnancy and maternal mortality rate in Sierra Leone is discussed. In addition to this, the possible interventions to reduce this issue in the country are also highlighted in a brief manner.

Running head: EARLY PREGNANCY ISSUES IN SIERRA LEONE
Early Pregnancy Issues in Sierra Leone
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The teenage pregnancy and maternal mortality rate is one of the serious area of
concern for Sierra Leone although it has a small population of only 7 million people in the
country with an annual growth rate of 3.5%. Although the country has improved a lot in
terms of overall life expectancy, but the maternal mortality rate is very high in the country
due to the early pregnancy issues in the country. The country has the maternal mortality ratio
(MMR) OF 1,165 deaths per 100000 live births (95% CI: 951- 1379). In 2015, it is estimated
that the MMR was almost 1360 deaths per 100,000 live births (95% CI: 999- 1980). In this
country, 1 woman out 17 woman dies due to risky condition during their pregnancy or
parturition process (Ministry of Health & Sanitation, 2016). In this essay, the issue of early
pregnancy and maternal mortality rate in Sierra Leone is discussed. In addition to this, the
possible interventions to reduce this issue in the country are also highlighted in a brief
manner.
The issue of teenage pregnancy and maternal mortality rate is very common issue in
Sierra Leone and the country held the 7th position in the list of teenage pregnancy rate in the
world. In this country, it is reported that, almost 38% of woman in between the age group of
20-24 years has their first child before the age of 18 years. The issue of teenage pregnancy is
one of the major issues in terms of the medical risks as is observed that, almost 40-60% of
teenage mothers die during their child birth. In addition this, the children of those teenager
mothers cannot survive for long time and most of the cases the children die within their age
of 20 years. After the Ebola crisis in Sierra Leone, the issue of teenage pregnancy has
increased almost 50% and those girls are restricted from getting education from the schools
(Check Hayden, 2015). The issue of teenage pregnancy is a one of the major issue in this
country for a long period of time and the issue is ignored as well and as a result the issue is
affecting the country’s social, economic and health care sector. It is reported that, the 34% of
all pregnancies are teenage pregnancy in this country (Mitchell, 2017). This issue of teenage

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pregnancy is responsi0bel for 40% of overall maternal mortality in Sierra Leone. Moreover,
due to this, teenage pregnancy, the school dropout rate is also increased. Another key reason
of this high pregnancy rate among the teenage population of this country is that the country
has almost 48% of teenage population (Age under 18 years). Every year, it is reported that
almost, 740,000 teenage girls become pregnant and among them, 69% of the pregnancy is
observed among the age group of 14-18 years. In this country, the pregnancy rate is almost
10.9% among the age group of 13 years or below. In case of 18-19 years age group, the
pregnancy rate is almost 31% (Shirley et al., 2014). The teenage maternal mortality rate is
still a huge problem in the country and the main causes of maternal mortality is associated
with postpartum haemorrhage, unsafe abortion, complications generated due to caesarian
surgeries during the delivery. In addition to this, it can be said that, the main reason of
teenage birth is lack of education, poverty in the country, less use of contraception among the
teenagers and teenage prostitution. Moreover, social culture is another reason that is
promoting the issue of teenage pregnancy in Sierra Leone (Ministry of Health & Sanitation,
2016).
Age of the Teenagers (Yr).
Number of Pregnant
Teenagers
13 8
14 4
15 11
16 9

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17 25
18 34
19 27
Mean= 16 Mean= 16.857
SDV=2.160 SDV=11.567
The study result showed that, the 19 years old teenagers have the highest number of
pregnant teenagers and the age group has the mean value of 16 along with a SDV of 2.160.
On the other hand the mean value of pregnant teenagers is 16.857 with a SDV of 11.567. The
study result showed that, the issue of teenage pregnancy is an immense problem in Sierra
Leone. Although, the country has several programs to address this, still it has become a
serious problem for the country (Kanu, Tang, & Liu, 2014).
The social cultures and believes of Sierra Leone is one of the major cause of this
teenage pregnancy and related maternal mortality in the country. As a part of the social
cultural, early marriage is one of the common practice of and it is one of the major
contributor to the teenage pregnancy problem in Sierra Leone. It is observed that, the median
age of the first marriage of the girls was 17.2 years and in the society of Sierra Leone the
value of woman is associated with the role of mother and wife so the issue of early marriage
is one of the contributor of this problem (Ministry of Health & Sanitation, 2016).
On the other hand, it is observed that, the low utilization of contraceptives and family
planning is another significant contributor of the teenage pregnancy and related maternal
mortality in Sierra Leone. It is observed that, the use of contraceptives among the sexually
active females of the country was almost 10.2% and in case of teenage population, the rate of
contraceptive use was almost 8.4% (15-19 years). However, almost 74.6% of the female
population had knowledge about the contraception. The high fertility rate of the country

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(almost 5.1 children per woman) indicated that, the use of contraception is very important in
case of the female population of this country(Ministry of Health & Sanitation, 2016).
As a part of the solution, it can be said that, the government should initiate health
education program to educate the young population of the country so that they can identify
the adverse consequences of early pregnancies. The families should be encouraged to arrange
the marriage of their daughters after the age of 18 years. In addition, it is observed that the
social believes of the country is restricting to the teenagers to use protection while having sex
with their partners. Government should educate the teenage population about the usage of
protections (Kosia, 2014).
The less use of contraception and protection among the teenagers is mainly due to the
lack of availability of contraception and protection. Therefore government should provide
contraception and protection to the teenagers along with the health education. It can be said
that, the enhanced availability of the contraception to the teenage population can reduce this
problem in Sierra Leone (Kosia, 2014).

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References
Check Hayden, E. (2015). Maternal health: Ebola’s lasting legacy. Nature News, 519(7541),
24.
Kanu, J. S., Tang, Y., & Liu, Y. (2014). Assessment on the knowledge and reported practices
of women on maternal and child health in rural Sierra Leone: a cross-sectional
survey. PloS one, 9(8), e105936.
Kosia, A, B. (2014). A Close look at Teenage Pregnancy and its Intervention Strategies in
Sierra Leone. Faculty of Health Science Simon Fraser University.
Ministry of Health & Sanitation (2016). Maternal Death Surveillance & Response. Ministry
of Health & Sanitation. Retrieved from- https://www.afro.who.int/sites/default/files/2017-
06/mdsrreport.pdf
Mitchell, H. (2017). Sierra Leone: teenage girls are dying from unsafe abortions and risky
pregnancies. The Guardian. Retrieved from- https://www.theguardian.com/global-
development-professionals-network/2017/jul/20/teen-pregnancy-sierra-leone-involve-men
Shirley, A., Lilley, S., Stark, L., Muldoon, K., King, D., Lamin, D., & Wessells, M. (2014).
Preventing Teenage Pregnancy in Sierra Leone Impact Evaluation Baseline
Report. London: Interagency Learning Initiative on Community-Based Child Protection
Mechanisms and Child Protection Systems.

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