ABSTRACT
Background. South Africa (SA)'s high adolescent fertility has been extensively studied. A pregnancy outcome that has not received sufficient attention in research is the causes of death among pregnant adolescents.Objectives. To examine levels and causes of adolescent maternal mortality in SA.Methods. A secondary data analysis of Death Notification Forms from 2006 to 2012 was carried out. SA General Household Surveys from 2006 to 2012 were used to ascertain the number of female adolescents in the population. Frequency distributions and life table techniques were employed.Results. An estimated 1 164 deaths have been recorded among pregnant adolescents between 2006 and 2012. Adolescent maternal and pregnancy-related mortality is lower than adult maternal and pregnancy-related mortality. The main causes of death among adolescents were hypertension (55.6% of all direct causes); abortion (17.6% of all indirect causes) and injuries (48.9% of all indirect causes). The probability of adolescents dying while pregnant without these causes is practically non-existent (range 0.002 - 0.150%).Conclusion. Policies and programmes should prioritise these pregnancy-related causes of death in order to further reduce such deaths among adolescents in SA
ABSTRACT
The paper presents the interaction effect of poverty-wealth status and autonomy on modern contraceptive use in Nigeria and Namibia with a view to examining whether poor women with less autonomy are less likely to use modern contraception than other women. A weighted sample of 3;451 currently married women in 2006-07 Namibia Demographic and Health Survey (DHS) and 23;578 in 2008 Nigeria (DHS) are used in the analysis. In Nigeria; the odd of using modern contraception is nearly 15 times higher among rich women with more autonomy than their counterparts who are poor and are less autonomous and 5.5 times higher among Namibian women. The study concluded that contraceptive behaviors of currently married women of Namibia and Nigeria are not independent of the linkage between poverty and autonomy and thus recommended that more concerted efforts be made in addressing poverty and improving the autonomous status of women in sub-Sahara Africa