Durban - Childline KwaZulu-Natal says that the government’s awareness and educational programmes aimed at curbing teenage pregnancy are not effective enough to deal with the problem.
The NGO was commenting after the KZN Health MEC Nomagugu Simelane and Premier Nomusa Dube-Ncube raised concerns about teen pregnancies after visiting hospitals to meet mothers who gave birth on Christmas and New Year’s Day.
The KZN Department of Health said there were a total of 341 New Year babies, while 99 babies were born on Christmas Day. According to the department, the province’s youngest mother is a 15-year-old who gave birth to a baby girl at Port Shepstone Hospital on the South Coast.
Childline KZN acting director Adeshini Naicker described the rate of teenage pregnancy as shocking and said it was sad to see young girls flooding hospitals to give birth on New Year’s Day in the province.
She also noted that some of the teen mothers were victims of sexual abuse.
“Many teenagers are ill-informed about sex and pregnancy.
“While many awareness and education programmes are implemented, many teenagers still believe myths about pregnancy.
“The ‘blesser’ phenomenon (older men who date younger women) is a contributing factor to the high rate of teenage pregnancy,” said Naicker, adding that parents and schools should be more involved in discussions on sex education.
“An overhaul of the current system needs to happen. Role-players need to include parents, educators, peers, religious leaders, traditional healers and health-care workers.
“A strong ethical compass needs to be instilled in teenagers regarding sex,” she said.
During her visit to welcome babies who were born on New Year’s Day at the Harry Gwala Regional Hospital, Dube-Ncube said teenage pregnancy was a concern.
“We call upon lawenforcement officers in cases of statutory rape to move swiftly and arrest whomever the offender is. Under-age sexual activity remains unlawful and something we should not condone ...
“Once again, we have to register our concern that the trend of young girls falling pregnant, well below the age of 18, is clearly continuing. Worryingly, the province’s youngest mother is a 15-year-old girl, who gave birth to a baby girl ...
“The father of her baby is also 15 years old. We encourage all young people to abstain from sex or to use condoms,” said Dube-Ncube.
MEC Simelane agreed that it was worrying that many teenagers gave birth.
“Once again, we have to register our concern at the trend of young girls falling pregnant.
“If it happens consistently every Christmas and New Year’s Day, as we have seen, it clearly means it’s probably happening every single day of the year.
“It means more and more girls are placing their own health, and that of their unborn babies in jeopardy by falling pregnant too early.”
She urged parents, guardians, educators and community leaders to have open and frank conversations with their children about the benefits of abstinence and responsible sexual behaviour.