Teenage pregnancy prevention: The church, community, culture and contraceptives

Abstract

It is important to prevent teenage pregnancies to enhance their health, educational level and economic prospects. Peer education should be explored as a strategy to prevent teenage pregnancies. The purpose of this paper is to share the perceptions of peer educators who underwent a peer education-training programme and the effect it had on their own sexual behaviour. A qualitative descriptive, explorative and contextual research design was conducted, using in-depth interviews from 15 participants to gather data. The findings revealed that participants had positive educational experiences; positive personal growth; and wanted to become mentors for their peers. Despite their increased level of knowledge and positive experiences, some found it difficult to mentor others due to religion, culture as well as the opinion of their parents and community. Peer education will only have an effect on contraceptives if the church, the community, diverse cultural norms and traditions are included in the dialogue about contraception. (Afr J Reprod Health 2021; 25[6]: 51-57).