Browsing by Author "Msefya, Jerome Raymond"

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    Adolescent and Premarital child bearing.
    (University of Dar es Salaam, 1999) Msefya, Jerome Raymond
    This Dissertation aimed at studying adolescent and premarital childbearing. The study also investigated the associated factors of such trend, by examining the socio-economic background, socio-status of affected parents and environmental set-up in which adolescent mothers were brought up. The study was conducted in Kinondoni District in three wards namely Kawe, Ubungo and Kigogo. Primary data from interviews and Secondary data from documentary sources were utilized as the main sources of information. The study is organized into five chapters. The first chapter includes the Background to the Problem, Objective of the Study, Significance of the Study, Limitations, Hypothesis and Definition of Concepts. Chapter two consists of the Review of related Literature; Methodology is given in chapter three; chapter four is Analysis of Data. Finally chapter five presents the Summary of Findings, conclusion and Recommendations. In summary, this study came up with the following findings: The majority of adolescent mothers were between 15 - 17 years of age with the age of first birth being 13 years. Furthermore, the findings revealed that most of them were standard seven leavers, most of whom came from families of lower educational and occupational level. The major factors associated with adolescent pregnancies were found to include temptation, ignoring parents, staying idle, eloping and very few mentioned lack of knowledge on reproductive health. Therefore in conclusion, adolescent and premarital childbearing are not always caused by lack of knowledge on reproductive health alone but sometimes certain circumstances may force the adolescents into conceiving early. The study came up with the following recommendations: The problem of premarital childbearing can be alleviated by starting from the household level whereby parents should design strategies to supplement their income so that girls would be provided with basic necessities. This will keep them away from temptations of obtaining quick money. Furthermore the Ministry for Development of Women and Children in collaboration with various NGOs such as UMATI, EMAU, UNICEF should conduct extensive studies in order to identify families with adolescent mothers who have failed to support themselves so as to design centres which would offer both material and educational help. Finally, sources of family planning information should be accessible to teenagers and should be enhanced. Both Government and Non-Governmental groups should cooperate in using sources of information such as Radio and Papers to disseminate the required information. Also adolescents should have platforms for expressing their views and exchanging experiences, such as magazines, live drama, and youth sports.