More than half of Kisii women had abortions, Study shows

Kisii, Kenya: More than half (60 per cent) of all pregnancies to women under the age of 25 ended in an abortion in Kisii since July this year, a study has revealed.

Figures from the Kisii Teaching and Referral Hospital (KTRH) also indicate that this compares with 22 per cent of the total deliveries recorded in the hospital.

KTRH Medical Superintendent Enock Ondari said nearly two-thirds, 61.5 per cent, of all pregnancies of women in the reproductive age group of 16 and 25 ended in abortion, up from 15 per cent a year ago and this trend has seen the hospital record 394 cases of abortion against the total deliveries of 1,755 in three months.

"Abortion is a serious public health problem in Kisii and it is being overused by teenagers and young women who engage in twilight sexual businesses while others are college girls," said Dr Ondari.

Worrying trend

"This is a worrying trend because abortion is now among the top 10 health burdens affecting the youth in this region and this has never been recorded in the hospital for a very long time," he noted.

The gynaecologist said though progress had been made by health workers in guiding and counselling pregnant girls to end the alarming rate of teen pregnancies, abortion was increasingly seen as the major method of contraception for many young women in the region.

"I think our society is failing these young and energetic people completely. At the same time we are storing up serious sexual health problems for the future since we have sexually transmitted diseases awaiting them, but also the effects that multiple abortions can have on future fertility," said Ondari.

He said some of the women were not fully mature physiologically and emotionally, while some had undergone numerous abortions and this raised eyebrows to the psychological impact for these vulnerable teens.

"We need to find proper counselling and help as soon as possible," he added.

Many of these young girls have gone through two or three abortions, oblivious of the long-term effects, and worse still, freely engage in unprotected sex, seriously exposing them to sexually transmitted infections.

First-timers

Ondari said among the 394 abortions, some of the girls aborted babies for the first or second time, and some did it for the third time while others do not want to reveal but their medical histories indicate a wanting future.

"Older women have had spontaneous abortions where one does not have control, but what we have here is mainly clandestine abortions that are life-threatening. What we do is that we medically induce these women when they come here for help," he explained.

"Our work here is to save lives and we always do not ask them where they tried to abort or which backstreet clinic they went to first before reporting here. We only save the life of the mother or both," said the gynaecologist.

He said statistics indicate that normal expected deliveries reported at KTRH were lower than what was recorded and this means most women either abort at home or visit backstreet clinics for the same.

At least 73,000 Kisii residents are living with HIV, with over 600 newborns being infected annually.