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| Teenage Mothers Take Over Antenatal Clinics |
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| Date: 10-Jul-2012 |
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Health facilities and the offices of the Domestic Violence and Victim Support Unit (DOVVSU) in the Western Region have been inundated with cases of teenage pregnancy.
The expectant teenage mothers, aged 12 to 17 years, have taken over the antenatal wards in various health facilities and the number keeps increasing month after month.
Officials of the regional DOVVSU of the Ghana Police Service in Sekondi are currently in a fix in their attempt to find ways to get the men who impregnated these children to take up their responsibilities.
Records at the Effia-Nkwanta Regional Hospital indicate that between January and June, this year, 126 cases of teenage pregnancy were recorded. That aside, there were also a number of teenage pregnancy cases in the communities which were not reported to the hospital. This was regardless of the fact that the pregnant teenagers were entitled to free antenatal care.
They have all dropped out of school as a result of their pregnancies.
When these teenagers visit the hospitals, they have to contend with married women who are also reporting to the hospital for ante-natal care.
According to hospital officials, the women see the pregnant teenagers as children who are supposed to be in school, and this and other remarks provoke the teenage mothers, who always answer back.
To avoid repeated confrontations, hospital authorities have designated special consultation days for teenagers.
The Effia-Nkwanta Regional Hospital has assigned Wednesday for the teenage mothers to report for antenatal care, and this is working well.
In an interview with The Mirror, the Regional Co-ordinator of DOVVSU, Assistant Superintendent of Police (ASP) Frank Nana Asumani, said the unit had embarked on a sensitization campaign in the communities to emphasise the need to protect children from sexual exploitation.
He said most of the cases were brought to the unit because the men who impregnated the teenagers had refused to accept responsibility.
“Most of the men are not even aware that it is an offence to engage minors in sexual acts,” he said.
According to Mr. Asumani, some of the men who have impregnated the girls are young men who are still being cared for by their parents.
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| Source: The mirror |
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