Bagweneza Vedaste, Rugema Joselyne, Twagirayezu Innocent, Nikuze Bellancille, Nyirazigama Alice, Bazakare Marie Laetitia Ishimwe, Kaberuka Gerard, Muhayimana Alice, Mukakamanzi Jacqueline, Mukeshimana Madeleine
School of Nursing and Midwifery, College of Medicine and Health Sciences, University of Rwanda, Kigali, Rwanda.
Arthur Labatt Family School of Nursing, Western University, London, Ontario, Canada.
BMJ Public Health. 2025 Mar 28;3(1):e001852. doi: 10.1136/bmjph-2024-001852. eCollection 2025 Jan.
Sexual and reproductive health (SRH) plays a crucial role in overall well-being, and there is a concerning rise in teenage pregnancies globally, particularly evident in Rwanda according to the Demographic and Health Survey. These pregnancies result in serious consequences, impacting the health of teenage mothers and various aspects of their lives. Lack of accessibility to inclusive SRH services among adolescents was documented in different studies and deters them from using SRH services. To date, no studies have explored how teenage mothers access inclusive SRH services in Rwanda.
This study aimed at exploring the accessibility to inclusive SRH services among teenage mothers. The focus was on exploring the understanding of teenage mothers about SRH services; exploring their inclusiveness to SRH services and identifying their suggestions to improve their inclusiveness in SRH services.
A qualitative descriptive design was used. 50 teenage mothers from 5 health centres of a Rwandan district participated. They were recruited using purposive sampling and interviewed in five focus group discussions. Before participation, the participants provided their consent. For participants who were minors, consent was obtained from their legal guardians in addition to the participants' assent. The discussions were audio-recorded, transcribed and thematically analysed.
Some participants had limited knowledge of certain aspects of SRH and reported difficulties accessing inclusive SRH services, while others mentioned receiving unfriendly SRH services. Participants suggested flexibility in policies related to providing SRH services to teenage mothers, as well as the assignment of specific healthcare providers to address their SRH needs.
This study revealed knowledge gaps among participants in SRH and limited accessibility to inclusive SRH services among teenage mothers, due to policy and negative attitudes of some healthcare providers. This highlights the need to educate these professionals in offering inclusive and quality SRH services to teenage mothers.
性与生殖健康（SRH）在整体健康中起着至关重要的作用，全球青少年怀孕现象呈令人担忧的上升趋势，根据人口与健康调查，这一现象在卢旺达尤为明显。这些怀孕会导致严重后果，影响青少年母亲的健康及其生活的各个方面。不同研究记录了青少年难以获得包容性的性与生殖健康服务，这阻碍了他们使用此类服务。迄今为止，尚无研究探讨卢旺达青少年母亲如何获得包容性的性与生殖健康服务。
本研究旨在探讨青少年母亲获得包容性性与生殖健康服务的情况。重点在于探究青少年母亲对性与生殖健康服务的理解；探究她们对性与生殖健康服务的包容性，并确定她们对提高自身在性与生殖健康服务中的包容性的建议。
采用定性描述性设计。卢旺达一个地区的5个健康中心的50名青少年母亲参与了研究。通过目的抽样招募她们，并在五次焦点小组讨论中进行访谈。参与前，参与者提供了同意书。对于未成年参与者，除了参与者的同意外，还从其法定监护人处获得了同意。讨论进行了录音、转录并进行了主题分析。
一些参与者对性与生殖健康的某些方面知识有限，并报告在获得包容性性与生殖健康服务方面存在困难，而另一些人则提到接受了不友好的性与生殖健康服务。参与者建议在为青少年母亲提供性与生殖健康服务的相关政策上保持灵活性，以及安排特定的医疗服务提供者来满足她们的性与生殖健康需求。
本研究揭示了参与者在性与生殖健康方面的知识差距，以及由于一些医疗服务提供者的政策和消极态度，青少年母亲获得包容性性与生殖健康服务的机会有限。这凸显了对这些专业人员进行教育，使其为青少年母亲提供包容性和高质量性与生殖健康服务的必要性。
