Alarm as teenage mothers’ numbers soar in Coast

A teenage mother with her child in Kimilili, Bungoma County. At least 13,000 girls drop out of school every year. [Jeckonia Otieno, Standard]

Pauline, 18, delivered a baby girl at the Mrima Maternity Hospital in Likoni, Mombasa County, early October.

She got pregnant after marriage last year at 17 and this is her first baby, delivered through caesarean section. Pauline is an example of rampant early marriages, teenage pregnancies and poor contraceptive reach in the seaside county. Statistics show that 13,000 girls in Kenya drop out of school each year due to early pregnancies.