Browsing by Author "Holtman, Natheerah"

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    Adolescent girls’ sexual and reproductive health information needs and barriers in Cape Town
    (AOSIS (Pty) Ltd, 2024) Holtman, Natheerah; Bimerew, Million; Mthimunye, Katlego
    Adolescent sexual and reproductive health (SRH) pertains to the mental and physical state of youth and encompasses their capacity to abstain from unintended pregnancies, unsafe abortions, sexually transmitted infections (stis), including HIV/AIDS, and all types of sexual assault and coercion (Abdurahman et al. 2022). A survey of 70 developing countries indicated that adolescent girls had unmet needs related to SRH services, which resulted in unintended pregnancy and other socio-economic consequences (Woog et al. 2015). Approximately 16 million adolescent girls younger than 19 years give birth each year, accounting for about 11% of all births, with 2 million of these girls being under the age of 15 years (Bałanda-Bałdyga et al. 2020). Although these pregnancies occur across all brackets of socio-economic status and countries (Bałanda-Bałdyga et al. 2020), approximately 95% of adolescent pregnancies were from developing countries, especially in Africa (Odimegwu & Ugwul 2022). Sub-Saharan Africa had the highest prevalence of fertility among young women, and more than 82% of these pregnancies were unintended (Mjwara & Maharaj 2018).
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    Exploring the sexual and reproductive health information needs and barriers of teenage girls at a high school in the Western Cape
    (University of the Western Cape, 2022) Holtman, Natheerah; Bimerew, Million
    The sexual reproductive health information needs of teenage girls are unmet in developing countries. This coupled with poor information-seeking behaviour to acquire appropriate SRH information and understanding of how the body works as well as misconceptions about contraceptive use expose teenage girls to unintended pregnancies and school dropout. The study aimed to explore the sexual reproductive health information needs, and barriers of teenage girls at a high school in the Western Cape. A qualitative research method with exploratory, descriptive, and contextual research design was used for this study. The targeted population was teenage girls aged 16–17, across Grade 11. Purposive sampling was used to select participants. In-depth semi-structured interviews were conducted with 17 participants, which were audio recorded and transcribed verbatim. Data were analyzed using thematic analysis.