Africa-Press – Uganda. Between June 2020 and June 2021, Luweero Hospital registered 3,616 expectant mothers turning up for antenatal care.
The same facility recorded clsoe to 1,400 teenage pregnancies for the same period, a record figure that has attracted attention of the district stakeholders.
The leaders are concerned that the number is likely to be higher as the country continues to grapple with the lockdown.Dr Innocent Nkonwa, the Medical Superintendent at Luweero Hospital, said the figures are for the Financial Year 2020/2021, with the number nearing half of the overall figure for the pregnant mothers that turned up at the facility in the same period.
“Teenage pregnancy comes with lots of challenges. The ongoing Covid-19 pandemic lockdown that has seen children get out of school for more than one year could partly explain the trend. It is the duty of the parents, guardians, community leaders, and other stakeholders to safeguard the girls,” he said.
The bodies of these young girls are not ready to support the pregnancy. This partly explains why a bigger percentage of those who get pregnant get complications at birth, Dr Nkonwa revealed.
Medical personel at the different health facilities in Luweero further revealed that many of the teenage pregnancy cases captured by the system never report back for antenatal care.
“We think some of the teenage pregnancy cases never visit health facilities for the antenatal care. It is very dangerous for the underage girls to go to the traditional birth attendants because their respective pregnancies must be monitored by health professionals,” a midwife at Luweero Hospital said. Luweero District Woman Member of Parliament Brenda Nabukenya said parents and the community should not run away from responsibility.
“The health workers may not be at every angle of the villages to sensitise the young girls about the dangers of the teenage pregnancy. Apart from abandoning school and possibly getting married, these young girls face many other challenges including acquiring diseases. We should not hide under the Covid -19 pandemic lockdown to down play the gravity of the teenage pregnancy burden,” she said.
Mr Livingstone Kategaya, the former Kamira Sub-county chairperson and a paralegal based in Kamira Sub-county, said about 23 cases of underage girls were reportedly married by both connivance by parents and guardians among other factors were registered between the months of July 2020 and March 2021. These cases are many in our area.
“It is unfortunate that some parents hide information relating to child marriages for selfish interests,” he said.
At Kamira Health Centre III, the facility captured 48 teenage pregnancy-related cases between the Months of June 2020 and November 2020.
Way forward
Ms Proscovia Namansa, a gender educator and former Luweero District Council speaker, believes continued sensitisation on gender-related issues, including challenges affecting the girl child could help scale down the teenage pregnancies.
“The parents and guardians should not abandon the parental role for their children. It is unfortunate that Covid-19 has left our children out of school for a very long period. Schools acted as protective avenues for our children. We pray that the pandemic comes to pass. We need to see our children at school. It is now the duty of every responsible citizen to jealously guard the rights of our children at the respective communities,”’ she said.
Findings
While the statistics captured for the teenage pregnancies are for girls between the age of 12 and 17, about 75 per cent of the pregnancies are for girls aged 14 and 16.
In Kamira Sub-county, the leaders claim a number of underage girls have been married off by their respective parents and guardians.
