Mother at 14: The urgent need for contraceptive knowledge to curb teen pregnancies, unsafe abortions

When 13-year-old Santa* from Maweni in Mombasa discovered she was pregnant, her world froze. Her first thought wasn’t about motherhood—it was shame. 

She says she had failed to protect herself simply because she did not know she could.

"I didn’t know where to go. I was afraid to ask," she recalls. 

Misinformed about contraception, she took the emergency morning-after pill before being sexually active, believing it would protect her. By the time her stomach began to swell, it was too late. 

Desperate, she tried unsafe abortion methods—concentrated black tea, even detergent—before resigning to motherhood at 14.

She is now a mother to a six-month-old baby.

Santa believes if she had the right information, she could have protected herself from the unwanted pregnancy. Santa laments: “If I had taken the pill the right way, I could have prevented this.”

Also read: Clash over age of consent for giving adolescents contraceptives

Santa's story mirrors that of thousands of girls across Kenya. In 2023 alone, more than 251,000 adolescents aged between 10 and 19 presented with pregnancy in health facilities, and while 2024, saw a slight decline to 240,787 cases, the crisis persists—fueled by misinformation, stigma, and systemic barriers to contraception.

According to health experts, adolescent mothers face significantly higher risks of life-threatening complications during childbirth, including eclampsia, obstructed labour, ruptured uterus, and systemic infections. Their babies are also more likely to be born prematurely or with low birth weight.

To prevent these outcomes, experts are making an urgent call to empower girls with knowledge, provide access to youth-friendly reproductive services, and eliminate stigma. 

However, nearly two decades after the government launched the Adolescent and Youth Friendly Services (AFYS) programme in 2005, young people still face formidable barriers in accessing contraception.

Instead of finding help at health centres, many girls like Santa are met with judgmental glares, shame, and the requirement to bring a parent’s consent before receiving any form of contraception.

“Young people are sexually active, and yet, when they walk into clinics asking for contraceptives, they are told they need parental consent or that they are too young,” said Beverly Anyango, a reproductive health nurse specialist and board member of the Reproductive Health Network Kenya.

Ms Anyango was speaking during the 8th Pan-African AYSRHR Scientific Conference, which brought together health providers, civil society, the Judiciary, academia, and youth to confront the challenges facing adolescents and youth in accessing sexual and reproductive health and rights (SRHR).

“We say nothing should be done about youth without their involvement but the truth is, they are still being silenced, denied services, and forced to navigate an environment full of fear and misinformation,” she added.

One of the main dilemmas lies in Kenya’s age of consent law, which permits access to contraceptives only from age 18. Yet research and community health promoters on the ground confirm that many sexually active girls are far younger and vulnerable.

“When a 15-year-old girl walks into a facility and is turned away, we lose the opportunity to protect her. We either uphold the law or uphold her rights but the system rarely lets us do both,” said Ms Anyango

For Ms Anyango, it is a matter of urgency. She said healthcare providers are stuck in a moral and legal dilemma.

“When adolescents come for contraceptives, we’re told they must have consent. But legally, only those above 18 can give that consent. So, what happens to a sexually active 15-year-old who walks into a clinic alone?” She asks. “Are we going to deny her the contraceptives and risk an unplanned pregnancy? Or are we going to help her protect herself and risk being penalised by the system?”

“These are the dilemmas health providers face daily.”

She noted that the broader problem lies in the societal attitudes that surround contraception for young people. Myths about fertility, religious conservatism, and patriarchal cultural norms have left many girls without options.

Biggest challenges

“Parental resistance and cultural norms are the biggest challenges. Youth feel it is time to access contraceptives, but with all the myths surrounding contraception, there is a lot of resistance from parents and even from health facilities themselves.

“Some stigma comes from healthcare providers. A girl comes for a family planning method, and we start judging her: ‘At your age, what do you want to do with family planning?’ That makes them shy away. Then we start recording a surge in teen pregnancies. And when we can't prevent pregnancies, what follows are unsafe abortions.”

The conference, hosted by RHNK in collaboration with the Ministry of Health, is part of an ongoing effort to ensure adolescents and young people are heard and served. But the issue remains deeply entrenched in law and public policy.

“If the government can adjust the age of consent for contraceptives or at least create a legal exception when a youth feels the need to access them, then that would be a major step forward,” said Ms Anyango. 

Adding that they are not there to decide for the youth but to help them.

Ms Anyango sentiments were echoed by Allan Maleche, one of the organisers of the conference.

“The issue of age is mostly about the context the young person is in. Are they sexually active? Are they at risk of sexual violence? Do they have enough education to make informed decisions?” 

He urged both the national and county governments to implement proper laws and policies, fund the programmes and protect health workers who are doing the right thing.

Mr Maleche stressed that the challenge goes beyond misinformation, citing lack of protection for health professionals, outdated laws, and weak policy frameworks.

“These things happen in an environment where young people don’t have information. Or worse, they are being coerced, assaulted, or raped. So, we need to ensure they have information, that contraception products are available especially now when donor funding for SRHR is shrinking," he said.

Mr Maleche said where rape happens, the Judiciary and government officials like the Office of the Director of Public Prosecution must be available to ensure those who cause harm are prosecuted.

Beyond Kenya, the numbers are just as grim.

Africa’s median age is 20 years, meaning more than half of the population is under 20. This growing youthful population is expected to transform the continent’s social and economic future, but only if their rights are respected and their health needs addressed.

“Each year across Sub-Saharan Africa, one in three girls is forced into early marriage. One in five gives birth before the age of 18,” said Nelly Executive, director Reproductive Health Network Kenya .

“These are not just numbers. These are girls with names, hopes and dreams. The toll is immense: school dropouts, increased maternal mortality, HIV infections, and heightened vulnerability to gender-based violence. Together, these factors entrench a cycle of poverty and despair.”

She described how structural failures—underfunded health systems, lack of comprehensive sexuality education, patriarchal norms, and discriminatory policies—create an environment where young people are left behind.

“SRHR is often treated as an afterthought. Education systems ignore it. Health services are fragmented. We don’t collect proper data, so we can’t design effective interventions,” she said.

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