Introduction.
Teen pregnancies deprive our young girls of the opportunity to pursue their education and attain their goals. It also exposes them to major health hazards. According to the WHO, “Pregnancy and childbirth complications are the leading cause of death among girls aged 15 to 19 years globally.” Of the pregnant teenagers who survive childbirth, nearly 98 percent drop out of school, according to research conducted by Plan International in 2019.
The 2014 Kenya Demographic Health Survey (DHS) indicates that 15 percent of girls aged 15 to 19 years had already given birth and the other three percent were pregnant with their first child.
We need to confront cultural, religious, and socio-economic factors that contribute to teen pregnancies. Interventions like early sex education are often dismissed by parents, religious leaders, and other stakeholders with the view that it would encourage more young people to indulge in sex.
It is essential that actionable insights through data play a central in determining interventions that can stamp out the problem from its root cause.
Teen Pregnancy R shiny application.
The Teen pregnancy application helps stakeholders gain actionable intelligence on the teen pregnancy trends in Kenya at the national, county, sub-county, and ward level and make informed decisions on how to combat the menace.
Data.
The teen pregnancy data is obtained from the DHIS2 July 2020 courtesy of Women in GIS Kenya. It ranges from January 2016 to July 2020.
National level.
Total teen pregnancy trends at the national level.
The plot shows the teen pregnancy trends over the years with the 3rd quarter of 2018 recording the highest teen pregnancies.
County-level.
Teen pregnancy color map.
The map tab displays the total teen pregnancy (10 to 19 years) per county. The user can filter the teen pregnancy per year.
In 2016, Nairobi, Nakuru, Kiambu, Migori, Kisumu, Homabay, and Siaya had the highest teen pregnancies.
In 2017, Nairobi, Meru, Nakuru, Bungoma, Kisumu, and Homabay recorded the highest number of teen pregnancies.
We can filter our year of choice and we will be able to gain insights on which counties have high or low teen pregnancy rates.
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Teen pregnancy trends per county.
The trends by county tab in the charts tab give insights into the teen pregnancy trends per quarter for each of the years.
Nairobi county for instance had the highest teen pregnancies in the 1st quarter of 2017 and 2020. We can filter a county of choice on the interactive and observe the trends.
Teen pregnancy per yearly quarter.
The plot shows the top 20 counties with the highest teen pregnancies for the 2nd quarter of 2020 (April to June 2020). We can filter the plot by the year quarter.
Subcounty level.
The trends by sub-county tab enable users to observe the teen pregnancy trends for each sub-county over the years.
Teen pregnancy trends per sub-county.
The plot shows the teen pregnancy trends for each sub-county in Nairobi.
Kibra sub-county has the highest increase in teen pregnancies in the 1st quarter of 2020 (January to March 2020).
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Teen pregnancy quarterly.
The plot shows the total teen pregnancy per sub-county for the 1st quarter of 2020 with Kibra sub-county having the highest number of teen pregnancies.
Ward level.
The trends by ward tab give insights into the teen pregnancy trends per ward.
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Teen pregnancy trends per ward.
The plot shows the teen pregnancy trends per ward for Kamukunji sub-county. Airbase ward has the highest teen pregnancies over the years and thus should be an area of concern.
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Teen pregnancy quarterly per ward.
Pumwani ward had the highest teen pregnancies during the 2nd quarter of 2020. We can filter the year quarters to gain more insights into the total teen pregnancies quarterly per ward.
Takeaway and future work.
Insights from the Teen pregnancy app can help the government, gender-based organizations, and other stakeholders in coming up with regulations and policies that will help curb the menace at the national, county, sub-county, and ward level.
I would like to improve the application in the following ways:
1. Add more comprehensive health data such as monthly clinic visits by pregnant adolescents, adolescent family planning uptake e.t.c.
2. Improve the application user interface.
3. Add the sub-county and ward level teen pregnancy interactive maps.
4. Include the yearly quarter filter for the map.
Conclusion.
In order to achieve the Sustainable Development Goal 5 on Gender Equality, the government, community, parents, guardians need to work together to prevent early teen pregnancies. Leveraging data analysis tools such as the teen pregnancy app is a big step in making informed decisions on resolving early teen pregnancies.
Feel free to interact with the R shiny app and the code via GitHub for actionable insights. You can contact me via Linkedln or mail for more discussions, comments, and feedback. Thanks for reading the article!
