Teenage pregnancy is a social problem in Cameroon in general and in Kumbo East in particular. This results in physical, psychological and socio-economic consequences on the teenage mother, family and the society as a whole. In spite of studies and interventions that have been and are being implemented, the prevalence of unplanned teenage pregnancy in Kumbo East Health District is still high, suggesting that more efforts are required to achieve effective preventive measures.
The aim of this study was to determine factors associated with adolescent school girl's pregnancy in Kumbo East health district. A cross-sectional descriptive study design was used and a simple random sampling technique was used to select respondents aged 15 to 19year. The district hospital antenatal clinics and the Health Centres were selected.
Data was obtained from participants under the age of 20 years who were willing using a questionnaire administered through face-to-face interviews. The study show a high prevalence This study has indicated that the age of teenager at first pregnancy, low contraceptive use, socio-economic status and physical violence are factors that are greatly associated with teenage pregnancy.
Among the reasons contributing to the low use of contraceptives are: sexually activity, lack of knowledge, fear of side effects, including sterility, condoms disappearing in the womb and inequality of power with sexual partners. The use of contraceptive alone may not reduce teenage pregnancy, however double method is very effective but addressing the impact of poverty on teenagers, empowering them on their rights and information in order to make right choices is very important.
Teenage pregnancy is considered as one occurring in a young woman who has not reached her 20th birthday. This definition is applicable irrespective of the legal status of the marriage of the woman or legal age to consider an individual as adult [ 1 ]. In the developing world, one-third to one-half of women become mothers before the age of 20 and pregnancy related complications have become the leading causes of death among them [ 1 , 2 ].
