# Multisectoral and Inclusive Strategies for Improving Pregnant Adolescents’ and Teenage Mothers’ Access and Utilisation of Sexual and Reproductive Health Services in Kenya

## TL;DR

This study identifies barriers to reproductive health services for pregnant adolescents in Kenya and proposes inclusive strategies to improve access.

## Contribution

The study coproduced a pathway to impact framework emphasizing multisectoral and inclusive approaches for adolescent health services.

## Key findings

- Barriers include stigma, lack of privacy, and inadequate healthcare resources.
- Adolescents face challenges like distance to facilities and poor stakeholder collaboration.
- A multisectoral approach with adolescent voices is crucial for effective service delivery.

## Abstract

Adolescent girls between 15 and 19 years of age make up just over one-fifth of the women of Kenya, and they account for 14% of all births. This study explored barriers to access and utilization of sexual and reproductive health services (SRH) for pregnant adolescents and teenage mothers in Kakamega County (Kenya).

The qualitative study included a desk review, interviews and focus group discussions and a validation workshop with the engaged stakeholders to produce a framework for action.

The main barriers emerged in the following domains: acceptability (stigma and socio-cultural influences, negative healthcare workers attitude, lack of privacy and confidentiality), accessibility (distance to the health facility, costs for transport and drugs, opening times), availability (lack of staff, drugs and equipment, low coverage of SRH services specific for adolescents), contact/use (lack of information about SRH services offered), effectiveness (poor collaboration between all the relevant sectors and stakeholders, lack of adequate financing, no inclusion of adolescent perspectives in the policy-making process, lack of reliable data). Moreover, COVID-19 starkly impacted access and utilization of the services.

A pathway to impact framework was coproduced building on the findings of the research to guide decision-makers in Kakamega and Kenya to improve access and utilization of SRH services for adolescents and especially pregnant girls and teenage mothers. Crucially, a multisector and multistakeholder approach including adolescent voices, could support the effectiveness of SRH services for adolescent girls.