Teen pregnacies robbing girls of childhood, future
By People.Reporter, October 26, 2022Florence Gesare, by all intents and purposes is a baby. At 13 and in Standard Eight, she should be playing with her agemates without any care of what tomorrow will bring. But life has played a cruel hand on Gesare and her two younger siblings.
“Our parents separated and simply abandoned us. Our mother left for where we do not know and our father moved to Nairobi and remarried. None of them even bothers to call us to hear how we are doing,” she says bitterly
So, in such a tender age, she has to literally lead her siblings in fending for themselves by doing all manner of menial jobs around their village, lest they go hungry.
As if that is not bad enough, she fell for a village loafer’s sweet words. “I was lured by a village mate with the promise of supporting us and I ended up falling into his trap and got into the family way,” she says as her eyes well with tears.
And with that she became one more statistic in Kenya’s rising teenage pregnancy problem.
The country’s figures on adolescent pregnancies make for a grim reading. Kenya recorded 45,724 cases of pregnant adolescents aged between 10 and 19 years in two months —January and February 2022.
Grim figures
Susan Mochache, Principal Secretary, Ministry of Health, said that of all antenatal care attendances in 2021 in Kenya, 21 per cent were adolescent mothers aged 10 to19, totaling 317,644.
“Worse still, a total of 23,279 of girls aged 10 and 14 were recorded in the health facilities as presenting with pregnancies,” said. Mochache.
Teenage pregnancy and motherhood has remained a major health and social concern because of its association with higher morbidity and mortality for both the mother and the child.
Childbearing during the teenage years also frequently has other adverse social consequences, particularly for female educational attainment, as women who become mothers in their teens are more likely to curtail education.
The teenage pregnancy and motherhood rate in Kenya stand at 18 per cent. This implies that about one in every five teenage girls between the ages of 15-19 years, have either had a live birth or are pregnant with their first child
Risk factors
Various studies have shown that a combination of different factors contribute to teenage pregnancy.
Mzee Samwel Bosire, the Abagusii Council of Elders Secretary General, says that, some parents have forgotten their role as parents and have left their responsibilities to caregivers.
He cites that parents concentrate more on career and have no time to monitor their children to know whom they associate with.
“In the past, children were brought up by their parents and society at large. They strictly underwent training and by the time they reached puberty, they knew how to take care of themselves,” he says.
World Health Organisation (WHO) report says adolescent pregnancies are a global problem occurring in high, middle, and low-income countries.
“Around the world, however, adolescent pregnancies are more likely to occur in marginalied communities, commonly driven by poverty and lack of education and employment opportunities,” it says.
Other factors include lack of information about sexual and reproductive health and rights for pupils, inadequate access to services tailored to young people, family, cultural practices, community and social pressure to marry, including early marriages and Sexual and Gender-Based Violence (SGBV).
Also, most of teenage pregnancies are as a result of curiosity, defilement/rape and peer pressure.
Leah Ogega, the Director Representative Health at Kisii Teaching and Referral Hospital, says that many teenage mothers go through psychological torture, which is mostly perpetrated by adults entrusted to protect them.
“Most end up dropping out of school because of ridicule, shame and stigma from their colleagues, teachers and even the society,” she says.
They end up not knowing who to reach out to since they face rejection by their families, friends and peers, with some threatening them with of violence.
Gesare agrees. She shares how the task of taking care of her siblings and herself and concentrating on her studies has not been easy.
“The situation has led to other pupils isolating me because they do not want to be associated with me for fear of being viewed as being of questionable moral character by society,” she says.
Sophia Kemunto, a mother to teenager, regrets that society does not welcome adolescent mothers.
“It is common for some parents to caution their children against associating with a girl who has gotten pregnant, terming her immoral, which stigmatises the teen mothers and may lead to mental challenges,” she says.
Major challenges
They are forced to stay at home or get married against their will. Others engage in risky behaviours such as having multiple partners, unprotected sex and taking drugs.
“Adolescent pregnancy is a major contributor to maternal and child mortality, including from unsafe abortions,” says Ogega. She points out that it might result to obstruct labour, fistula, malnutrition and anaemia.
Prof Henry Onderi, Chairman of County Education Board, Kisii County, says teenage pregnancies have made minor girls to live miserable lives and drop out of schools.
“It is a threat to our education system and needs an urgent solution,” he says.
Dr Ruth Mogaka, a physiologist, is calling on society to check on teenage mothers to prevent rising cases of mental health among young mothers.
She says efforts to address teenage pregnancies and other sexual and reproductive health matters in most cases are hampered by parents, religious leaders, and other stakeholders despite the mounting evidence that young people are engaging in sex earlier than in the past.
“The rising cases of teen pregnancies is a major challenge to economic development because it deprives young girls of the opportunity to further their education and attain their career goals, which is a threat to the future of our country,” warns Dr Mogaka.
Stella Achoki, Executive Director, Centre for Community Mobilisation and Empowerment (Cecome), a community-based organisation, says there is need to sensitise both the boys and girls on the danger of engaging in early sex, besides empowering them with other life skills.
“While it is obvious why we sensitise girls, we should engage the boys too so that they can understand the pain, suffering and other challenges that the girls face whenever they get pregnant so that they can respect and protect them as their sisters,” she says.
Prof Onderi says children should be sensitised on the need to abstain till marriage. He stresses on the need for sex education in schools.
“Parents have a responsibility to be open to their children on the obvious sensitive topic of sex. We are disadvantaging our children if we do not open up to them,” he says.