Communication between mothers and daughters regarding sexual and reproductive health issues in Hai District, Kilimanjaro

The aim of this study was to determine what mothers know about sexual and reproductive health and the extent to which they are willing to share that knowledge with their adolescent girls. The study was conducted in Hai district and involved 400 women with adolescent girls. A structured interview was used for generating, data. Findings of the study showed that, generally mothers seemed to have some knowledge on reproductive health issues, but there were serious problems on what they know about the specific aspects of reproductive health, For example, only 35 percent of the respondents knew correct time during a normal menstrual cycle when a woman is likely to conceive. Although 70 percent of the mothers knew about modern contraceptives. Only 50 percent specifically mentioned condoms as one of the methods. Majority knew about HIV/AIDS (94 percent) followed by Gonorrhea (91 percent) as types of STDs, but only 14 percent knew about Genital Discharge Diseases, The majority of women had knowledge on mode of transmission for HIV, but 10 percent of mothers still believe that HIV could be acquired by sharing clothes and utensils with infected person. Only a half of the mothers in this study knew that use of condoms is a preventive measure against HIV. Only a quarter (26 percent) of respondents knew a mother with infection should avoid breast-feeding, as one of the mode of prevention against vertical transmission of the virus. The majority is percent (94percent) of the interviewed mother’s ranked pregnancy as number one problem, followed by HIV/AIDS, (88.5percent) when they suspected their adolescent girls were sexually active. Over 70 percent of the mothers were willing to communicate with adolescent girls on HIV/AIDS, followed by STDs. However, a small proportion (16 percent) was willing to discuss contraceptive issues. Over 90 percent of respondents, proposed mothers to take role of educating adolescent girls on role of the mother and child rearing. Some, proposed Health workers as primary source of knowledge on contraceptive and STD HIV/AIDS (94 percent and 88 percent respectively). Sixty seven percent of respondents, proposed the school teacher as the authority to educate adolescent girl, on STD HIV/AIDS. The findings of this study, has revealed that due to low level of understanding of specific aspects of reproductive health, mothers are not a dependable source of information unless steps are taken to educate them.