breast tenderness or fullness, dizziness, the development of white palms and soles,

4

 or just 

 feeling sick.  Some participants said that they consulted friends, sisters, or boyfriends to 

confirm their suspicions or to ask their opinions on the signs and symptoms to try to establish 

whether they were pregnant. Only about a quarter of the girls said that they used pregnancy tests 

to confirm the pregnancy, as Wanda did, above.  

Three girls said that someone else told them they were pregnant based on observations of 

changes in their bodies. For example, one of the girls said, 

Well, I missed my period for several months and started feeling very sick. Then one day, 

when my mother visited, she noticed I was pregnant and told me. I also noticed my palms 

had gone pale. [Joy] 

The three participants who were not aware that they were pregnant, but had to be told by 

someone else, were younger ones, between 14 and16 years old. Most girls figured out on their 

own that they were pregnant sometime during the first or second month of pregnancy, early 

enough to obtain an abortion in the first trimester it they chose to do so.

5

Table 2  Stage of pregnancy (months) at which study participants became aware of their first pregnancy  

Age at which 

Aware of pregnancy (first pregnancy) 

Not aware or 

pregnancy 

someone else 

experienced 

  1 2 months 

    2 3 months      3+ months 

told them 

Total 

14 

2   1 

3 

15 

1   1 

2 

16  

2 

4 

1 

1 

8 

17  

4 

3 

7 

18  

1 

3 

4 

19  

1 

2 

3 

Total 11 

12 1 

3 

27 

N = 29 (2 missing answers) 

5.2 

Girl and Boyfriend Agree on Birth or Abortion 

In 14 of the 49 cases of pregnancy discussed in this section, the girl and/or her boyfriend 

wanted to give birth and/or convinced the other to want to give birth too. Ten of these were first 

births for the participants, and five were second births usually with the same boyfriend or 

 husband.  In general, the decision to carry the child to term was the impetus to further solidify 

the relationship with the boyfriend and to advance the marriage process.  

4

 Pale soles and palms usually suggest anemia, thus this finding may indicate a compromised nutritional status of the 

girls before or during early pregnancy. 

5

 These findings support and reflect the findings of a 1997 study conducted at Korle Bu Hospital.  Of the 212 

admissions for postabortion care in a one year period, the author reports that 90 percent of abortions had been 

performed before the tenth week, and half before the seventh week of pregnancy (Lassey, 1995). These girls must 

have been aware of their pregnancies within the first or second month in order to arrange a first trimester abortion. 

34