Effects of pregnancy: a systematic review of the health impacts of adolescent pregnancy in West Africa

Objectives: The purpose of this study is to bring to the fore how the health of adolescent girls is impacted by pregnancy and its child implications for women’s rights and encourage relevant actors to prioritize the sexual and reproductive health and rights of adolescent girls in the designing and implementation of interventions.Methods: A broad search framework was constructed and implemented to search for applicable studies online for a systematic review. Adolescent pregnancy, teenage pregnancy, risks, impacts, outcomes, effects, consequences were used as search terms to search the databases of Google, Google Scholar, SCOPUS, EBSCO, CINAHL, Web of Science, African Journals Online (AJOL) and Demographic and Health Services Reports: USAID Demographic Health Surveys in 2021 and reviewed following PRISMA guidelines.Results: The 28 included studies for the review were all from West Africa, Ghana, Liberia and Nigeria. The study found anaemia, complications of pregnancy and obstetric and gynaecological risks, unsafe abortions and psychological effects to adversely impact the health of adolescent girls. In addition, adolescent pregnancy and its related factors could have implications for women’s rights.Conclusions: Pregnancy could be deleterious to the health and wellbeing of adolescent girls in various forms. This study categorized the adverse health outcomes in four ways. Anaemia, complications of pregnancy, obstetric and gynaecological effects, unsafe abortions and psychosocial impacts. Adolescent pregnancy could be detrimental to upholding the International Convention on the Rights of Women. Targeted interventions to prevent pregnancy in young women and mitigate these effects by stakeholders are encouraged.