Abstract:

Background: Unwanted pregnancy is against one’s will, does not respect freedom of the other partner that is a girl (force able even below bearing age) in which affects health and social-economic. Although there are many different ways to prevent a teenage girl from becoming pregnant, the only one that is absolutely effective is sexual abstinence. Lack of knowledge and awareness of the teenage girl about unwanted pregnancies especially in Tanzania’s rural population poses a great challenge in the process despite the efforts of the government and other health agencies.

Objectives: The main objective of this study was to assess the knowledge on factors contributing to unwanted pregnancies among adolescent secondary school girls which would be achieved through determining the proportion of adolescent students with knowledge on unwanted pregnancies, assessing the main factors contributing to unwanted pregnancies of adolescents and to know the sources of information on sexual and reproductive health.

Methodology: A community based cross sectional study was conducted in Nyamagana district at Mwanza using paper checklist to collect data among 309 adolescent female students. SPSS was used for data entry, analysis and interpretations.

Results: Among 309 adolescent female secondary students who participated in the study, 226(73.1%) were aware on factors contributing to unwanted pregnancies among adolescent secondary school girls while 79(25.6%) of the participants were not aware on factors contributing to unwanted pregnancies among adolescent secondary school girls.

Conclusion: In conclusion, the majority of female secondary students are aware of factors contributing to unwanted pregnancies among adolescent secondary school girl.