Lerato walks out in the scorching sun, with a frail baby on her back. Although the aggressive sun hits the infant’s tiny little face, the young woman makes no effort to cover her.
Instead, she aggressively shakes the baby in attempt to hush the baby, who continues to yell loudly.
Lerato takes off the baby and cradles it in her arms. However, the little one shows no sign of stopping until in frustration, the young mother takes out her breasts and thrusts the tip of her small nipple into the baby’s mouth.
Soon the baby begins to suckle. The cries stop. The tears stop. There’s a joyous expression on her face as her little hands hold onto her mother’s breast. The mother has a look of relief as she sighs, sits back and stares into the distance.
Although she says she is just 15 years old, Lerato looks older. Her face is contorted into a worried expression and she seems absent-minded most of the time. I constantly have to repeat questions.
She comes across as guarded and suspicious at first but there are moments when her childhood element comes out and she laughs loudly. She particularly enjoys talking about the latest songs, and the times she had with her friends in school.
Sadly, only one of those friends came to visit her since she had a baby. “It’s their mothers who don’t want them to come. They say I will teach their children how to make babies,” she says as she lowers her eyes in shame.
Lerato is one of percent of women worldwide who give birth before the age of 21.
I ask if she had been taught about sex, pregnancy, HIV/AIDS and preventive methods. She gives me a side-glance and looks away with embarrassment. Her mother sits beside us and begins to babble. “Ga ba utlwe bana ba. Ba rata dilo tsa bagolo!” (These children are naughty, they like doing grown up activities).
It transpires that Lerato never had the “bird and the bees” talk. There is nothing unique about that. Many households in Botswana never touch the topic.
However, it’s becoming increasingly evident that parents need to discuss matters of sexuality with their children. About 16 million girls aged 15 to 19 and some 1 million girls under 15 give birth every yearÔÇömost in low- and middle-income countries.
Complications during pregnancy and childbirth are the second cause of death for 15-19 year-old girls globally. Every year, some 3 million girls aged 15 to 19 undergo unsafe abortions. Babies born to adolescent mothers face a substantially higher risk of dying than those born to women aged 20 to 24.
Numerous individual, family, and community characteristics have been linked to adolescent childbearing. For example, adolescents who are enrolled in school and engaged in learning (including participating in after-school activities, having positive attitudes toward school, and performing well educationally) are less likely than are other adolescents to give birth to or to father a baby.
At family level, adolescents with mothers who gave birth as teens and/or whose mothers have only a high school qualification, are more likely to have a baby before age 20 than are teens whose mothers were older at their birth or who attended at least some college.
In addition, having lived with both biological parents at age 14 is associated with a lower risk of a teen birth. At the community level, adolescents who live in wealthier neighborhoods with strong levels of employment are less likely to have or to father a baby than are adolescents in neighborhoods in which income and employment opportunities are more limited.
It’s therefore imperative for young women like Lerato to be educated and empowered.
Although government has taken strides to make information accessible to young people, there is still some form of dissemination lagging. Schools, community leaders, parents and health workers have been urged to come to the party and play a role in ensuring that girls are educated on sexuality, empowered to delay sexual activity and thwart off any sexual moves made on them and report any unbecoming behaviour from men.
The 2014 World Health Statistics indicate that the average global birth rate among 15 to 19 year olds is 49 per 1000 girls. Country rates range from 1 to 299 births per 1000 girls, with the highest rates in sub-Saharan Africa.
Adolescent pregnancy remains a major contributor to maternal and child mortality, and to the cycle of ill-health and poverty. Pregnancy and childbirth complications are the second cause of death among 15 to 19 year olds globally.
Early childbearing increases the risks for both mothers and their newborns. In low- and middle-income countries, babies born to mothers under 20 years of age face a 50 percent higher risk of being still born or dying in the first few weeks versus those born to mothers aged 20-29.
The younger the mother, the greater the risk to the baby. Newborns born to adolescent mothers are also more likely to have low birth weight, with the risk of long-term effects.
Medical practitioners have stated that adolescent pregnancy can have negative social and economic effects on girls, their families and communities. Many girls who become pregnant have to drop out of school. A girl with little or no education has fewer skills and limited opportunities to find a job. This can have a negative economic cost with a country losing out on the annual income a young woman would have earned over her lifetime, if she had not had an early pregnancy.
What’s also interesting to note is that not all teen births are first births. In 2013, almost one in six (17 percent) births to 15- to 19-year-olds were to females who already had one or more babies.
Avoiding repeat teen births is one of the goals of OAH’s Pregnancy Assistance Fund grant program to States and Tribes.
Grantees may use the funds from the Fund to help pregnant and parenting teens complete high school or earn post-secondary qualifications, as well as gain access to health care, childcare, family housing and other critical support. The money could also be used to improve services for pregnant women who are victims of domestic violence, and increase public awareness and education on teen pregnancy prevention.
Findings of the Ministry of Health’s Adolescent Sexual and Reproductive Health Implementation Strategy 2003 have found that teenagers are impregnated by older or married men, most of whom desert them.
It was revealed that a small number of the pregnancies were caused by the girls’ peers. The comforting news, however, is that although teenage pregnancy rates remain worrying, the cases have declined. In 1996, six out of 10 teenage girls had been pregnant at least once, but only two out of 10 in 2003, according to the UN Population Fund (UNFPA).
The former Assistant Minister of Education and Skills Development, Patrick Masimolole has in the past revealed that the number of girls who fell pregnant in 2011 was 33, while 9 fell pregnant in 2012. In secondary schools, 452 students fell pregnant in 2011 and 730 in 2012.
“In many occasions, pupils/students are not always willing to disclose the names, relationship or even the occupation of the culprits. In most cases, those who fall pregnant would desert from schools and only share information would desert from schools and only share information with their parents who then decide not to disclose it to the school in fear of action being taken against the potential father,” he said.
“In a few instances where the information reaches the school, it would involve age-mates or the student would protect the culprit by implication a different person,” he added.
According to officials, in the event that the culprit is an adult person who is in employ of Government, other than a teacher, the incident is reported to the supervising Department to take action as per provision of Public Service Act No. 30 of 2008.
“If the culprit is a teacher, disciplinary action is taken by the Ministry and if found guilty the person would be dismissed. If the matter constitutes suspected defilement, such cases are referred to social workers and reported to the police,” stated Masimolole.
The Ministry of Education and Skills Development has revealed it has put in place strategies to tackle teenage pregnancy in schools. These include the pastoral system and guidance and counselling programmes such as peer approach to counseling by teens-PACT), girls address/talks by female teachers, involvement of stakeholders like parents, health workers, police, social workers to talk on issues of sexuality and adolescence, talk back and infusion of HIV/AIDS related issues in the lessons by teachers.
Despite all the avenues taken to tackle the challenge, teenage pregnancy remains a leading cause of school dropouts and can result in HIV infection. This has a negative effect on women’s quality of life, financial independence and their health.
