Abstract

Unplanned pregnancies among university students are an important public health issue in both developed and
developing countries because of its negative association with social, psychological and health outcomes for both
mothers and the children. The rate of unplanned pregnancies among university female students is high. Unplanned
pregnancies can be prevented by effective use of contraceptives. To determine the factors contributing to the
prevalence of unplanned pregnancies among female university students at Kampala International University-
Western Campus (KIU-WC). A quantitative descriptive survey was conducted among 96 female university students
at KIU-WC. A hand delivered self-administered questionnaire was used to collect the data by the researcher. The
level of unplanned pregnancies is high among participants (85.2%) who carried pregnancy while at the university.
Low socio-economic factors (47.3%) contribute to the prevalence of unplanned pregnancies. Participants always
accessed contraceptives (83.3%) from pharmacies/drug shops (54.4%) and private clinics (38.9%) expensively.
Effective use of contraceptives protected majority of the sexually active participants (67.7%). Most pregnancies
among female students at KIU-WC are unplanned and these unintended pregnancies are due to low socio-economic
factors. This problem can be reversed by the free access and effective use of contraceptive methods by students