From Teenage Unwanted Pregnancy to Induced Abortion: Who Facilitates Links?

ABSTRACT

This article presents results on 150 teenagers admitted with induced abortion complications in Dar es Salaam. The types of people involved in the process from the time the girls suspected they were pregnant to when they were hospitalized was investigated using a semi-structured interview schedule. The data was extracted from a larger data set of 965 consecutive admissions with abortion complications over a period of 45 days.

Findings of the study reveal that a substantial majority of teenage girls decide to induce abortion prior to confiding to another person and most first confidants offered similar advice. Relatives and the men with whom these girls had conceived were found to be key people in finding abortionists, paying the required fees and assisting in seeking medical care.