Unintended pregnancy among undergraduate students at a select University, Eastern Cape, South Africa: Effects, influences, outcomes and solutions

Abstract

Unintended pregnancies remain a subject of concern especially in the developing region mainly because of their potential adverse public health, social, and economic consequences. This paper contributes to the ongoing effort to understand the effects, influences, outcomes and to explore effective solutions to the problem. The study focused specifically on University undergraduate students with 23 male and female students participating in in-depth interviews. Findings show that despite their traumatic effects, given support at micro, macro and intrapersonal levels as suggested by the Supportability model (Macleod 2016), unintended pregnancies do not constitute public health risk. The same support systems and social capital can be harnessed to prevent the problem, among other interventions. The expressed remorse, disappointment, shame, guilt etc by the participants emanating from their strong moral, cultural, traditional and religious beliefs be channelled through similar support to protect young people from falling victims of unintended pregnancy.