NAIROBI, Kenya – Kenya recorded 792,694 induced abortions in 2023, with more than 80 percent of these cases involving married women, according to a new report by the Africa Population and Health Research Center (APHRC).
The report, released on Friday, provides insight into the demographics and underlying causes of abortion-related complications in the country.
Nearly half of the women who sought treatment for post-abortion complications were aged between 25 and 34 years.
Additionally, 78.6% of these women were married or living with a partner, and about 36.7% had attained secondary education.
Only 25.9% of women in Nairobi and Central received care in a formal health facility during their most recent abortion, compared to 43% in Eastern and 42.3% in Coast and North Eastern regions. ynews.digital/newsflash/nair…
Of the 3,710 women treated for abortion-related complications in health facilities, 2,643 were married.
The report also found that 4.8% of women were divorced, separated, or widowed, while 16.6% had never married.
The findings suggest a complex mix of social, cultural, and economic factors influencing women’s decisions to terminate pregnancies.
Kenneth Juma, a senior researcher at APHRC, highlighted the pressures women face from societal expectations, such as the desire for smaller families and economic constraints.
“Many married women decide to terminate a pregnancy due to economic factors or the desire to focus on their careers,” Juma explained.
The study estimates that Kenya had 2,850,346 pregnancies in 2023, with 1,435,988 being unintended.
The high number of induced abortions, coupled with the complications arising from them, underscores the need for better reproductive health services.
Nairobi and Central Kenya recorded the highest rates of induced abortions, with 234,125 cases, followed by Nyanza and Western regions, which reported 222,196 cases.
The Rift Valley, Eastern, Coast, and North Eastern regions also recorded significant numbers of induced abortions.
The report, conducted jointly with the Guttmacher Institute and the Ministry of Health, aimed to estimate the incidence of induced abortions, assess the severity of post-abortion complications, and evaluate health facility capacity to provide post-abortion care (PAC).
The findings call for greater attention to reproductive health and family planning policies to address the underlying causes of high abortion rates in the country.
