Yaounde: Medics raise concern over alarming increase in teenage pregnancies.

According to the results of the survey, the number witnessed a slight increase to 78 cases in 2023. However, the situation, the medics are saying, has worsened in 2024. 

It is worth mentioning that the survey also revealed that many young girls are victims of rape, which is sometimes linked to their mode of dressing.

Enter medical doctor 

Dr Ashing Rose of the Etoug-ebe Baptist Hospital in Yaounde, told The Guardian Post that most of the teenage girls getting pregnant are Internally Displaced Persons, IDPs, from the crisis-hit North West and  South West Regions.

According to Dr Ashing, some of the girls were sent backing by their relatives or guardians.

"Most of these girls are sent from the village to live with relatives in the city for safety and better opportunities," she explained, but regretted that some are given out for marriage while others are exposed to situations that end up in unplanned pregnancies.

Dr Ashing also linked the rise in teenage pregnancies to lack of sex education. "Parents must play an active role in providing comprehensive sex education to their children," she said.

On her part, a midwife at Gilead Medical Centre in the Obili neighbourhood, told The Guardian Post that most parents have neglected their children. Our respondent called on parents to be proactive in raising children.

Challenges of dealing with teenage girls

In Yaounde, several families have been affected by the surge in teenage pregnancies. A member of one of such families who identified herself to The Guardian Post only as Comfort, recounted the case of a niece who out of neglect, was already being misled through social media.

She disclosed that: "I have a 15-year-old niece who came for holiday from Bamenda. She had an Android phone, unknown to her mother. She was engaged in inappropriate conversations with a boyfriend on Facebook. When confronted, she said her mother does not have time for her, so she had to seek attention and comfort somewhere else”.

Going by our respondent, “these are the first steps of getting an unwanted pregnancy”.

“Imagine I did not discover her on time, and she met up with her online boyfriend, who knows what would have happened. This highlights the critical need for parents to be more attentive and present in the lives of their children,” she said. 

Need for active parental involvement, other activities 

A parent who is also a pastor told The Guardian Post that there is need for active parental control and other activities to keep children busy. The man of God also urged community leaders to work with the government to reverse the trend. 

Lack of menstrual education

On the same issue, Project Lead at Research and Development Without Borders, RDWB, which is part of a Non-Governmental Organisation, Water Sanitation Hygiene, WASH, Ichu Blessing, blamed the situation on a lack of menstrual education.

“One of the reasons young girls are prone to unwanted pregnancies is the lack of menstrual knowledge,” Ichu said, adding that: “Many young girls these days do not know anything about their menstrual cycle and as a result, venture into unprotected sexual intercourse during unsafe periods of their cycle. The consequences are clear”.

Ichu said to address the situation, there is need for comprehensive programs “tailored towards better access to sex education, reproductive health services, and creating awareness about the dangers of early pregnancies and unsafe abortions”.

By Nadege Dzilamonyuy Limnyuy (Journalism student on internship) 

This story was first published in The Guardian Post issue N0:3178 of Wednesday July 24, 2024