Teen pregnancies in Kenya slightly decline as regional disparities persist

The number of teenage pregnancies across the country has slightly declined in the past one year according to the latest data by the Kenya National Bureau of statistics (KNBS).

The KNBS report indicates that the number of adolescents aged 10-19 presenting with pregnancy at their first antenatal care visit decreased by 1.9pc from 258,327 in 2022 to 253,314 in 2023.

The decline was also recorded among teenagers aged 15-19, where the numbers fell by 1.5%, from 245,249 to 241,483 while for adolescents aged 10-14 the numbers decreased by 9.5pc from 13,078 to 11, 831 during the period.

Despite the decline, Nairobi City, Bungoma, Kakamega, and Narok counties reported the highest proportions of teenage pregnancies.

Rising uptake of modern contraceptives

The reports further highlights an increased uptake of uptake of modern contraceptives including family planning injections, Pills Progestin, Implants Insertion, and BTL Sterilisation for women.

Family planning injections remain the most popular method with 2.8 million women opting for the method while implants insertions followed with 1 million clients.

Female sterilisation increased by 15.1pc to 4,727, while male sterilisation (vasectomy) saw a significant decline of 30.2% to 389 clients in 2023.