Kenya recorded 792,694 induced abortions in 2023, more than 80 per cent among married women.
The latest report released by the Africa Population and Health Research Center (APHRC) on Friday showed that nearly half of the women who presented in health facilities for post abortion complications were women aged between 25 to 34 years.
According to the data from the report, more than three-fourths (78.6 per cent) were married or living with a partner, and about one-third had secondary education (36.7 per cent).
This means that of 3,710 women treated for abortion related complications in Kenyan health facilities in 2023, 2,643 were married.
The report shows 4.8 per cent (183) were either divorced, separated or widowed, while 16.6 per cent were never married.
From the data, 3,028 were Christian and 303 were Muslim.
The report shows that about two-thirds (65.6 per cent) of the women had previously given birth, while 29 per cent had more than three pregnancies in their lifetime.
"What this means is that there are pressures of society around women and their families wanting fewer children," senior researcher at APHRC Kenneth Juma said.
He said most married women decide to terminate a pregnancy due to economic factors or in pursuit of their careers.
"There are a lot of reasons, many of them are demographic and a lot of them also social and cultural, some are economic, around people wanting smaller families, people wanting to delay the occurrence of pregnancies and a variety of other reasons," he said during the national dissertation forum.
According to the report, there were an estimated 2,850,346 pregnancies in Kenya in 2023, of which 1,435,988 were unintended and 792,694 ending in induced abortions.
According to the report, the study was conducted jointly with the Guttmacher Institute and the Ministry of Health between April 2023 and May 2024.
The study aimed to estimate the incidence of induced abortions, the severity of post-abortion complications, assess health facility capacity to provide PAC and assess the lived experiences of women who have had abortions. Nairobi and Central region have the highest rate of induced abortions in the country.
The report shows the region recorded 234,125 induced abortions in 2023.
This is followed by Nyanza and Western region with 222,196 induced abortions in 2023.
The Rift Valley region had 153,314 cases, 108,910 in Eastern region and 74,150 cases in Coast and North Eastern regions.
Nationality, it is estimated that there was a total of 792,694 induced abortions in Kenya in 2023.
