Factors that Contribute to the High Rate of Teenage Pregnancy and its Reduction in a High-Risk Area in North West, South Africa

Abstract

Teenage pregnancy is a global concern, and is associated with high levels of sociomedical morbidity. However, no studies have been conducted on this topic at a high-risk area in the North West province of South Africa. The aim of this study was to explore and describe the factors that contribute to the high rate of teenage pregnancy and its reduction in a high-risk area in North West. A qualitative, exploratory, descriptive and contextual research design was used to achieve the aim of the study. A non-probability purposive sampling method was used to select 15 teenage girls aged between 13 and 19 years. A total of 15 semi-structured individual interviews were used to collect data from the teenagers. Tech’s open-coding method of qualitative data analysis was used separately by the researcher and the co-coder to analyse the data. Two themes emerged, namely, contributory factors of teenage pregnancies and factors that could help to reduce teenage pregnancies. The findings of the study indicate that to effectively reduce teenage pregnancies in the high-risk area in North West, the teenagers, friends, parents, families, tavern owners and health professionals must adopt a collaborative approach to work together to fight this problem. Recommendations were made to reduce teenage pregnancies in the high-risk area in North West.