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Monday. September 18, 2017
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ILOILO City – Teenage pregnancy prevention efforts should not only focus on young girls.
Teenage boys must not be left out in the campaign, stressed the Western Visayas Medical Center (WVMC), because they have a critical role, too.
Dr. Patricia Tobias, WVMC medical specialist II and chairperson of the Program for Young Parents (PYP), said they seek the active involvement of not only the young female parents in all the activities of the PYP but also their male partners.
“So they can understand what their partners are undergoing in pregnancy and the possible problems they may encounter,” she said.
Young male parents are encouraged to attend various PYP sessions such as life skills training, breastfeeding, among others.
They should have an active participation so they may also know the dangerous side of pregnancy, Tobias stressed.
Stillbirths and death in the first week of life are 50 percent higher among babies born to mothers younger than 20 years than among babies born to mothers between 20 to 29 years old, according to the World Health Organization (WHO).
Deaths during the first month of life are 50 to 100 percent more frequent if the mother is an adolescent versus older, and the younger the mother, the higher the risk, stressed WHO.
The rates of preterm birth, low birth weight and asphyxia are higher among the children of adolescents, all of which increase the chance of death and of future health problems for the baby, according to WHO.
Pregnant adolescents are more likely to smoke and use alcohol than are older women, which can cause many problems for the child and after birth, it added.
According to WHO, many girls who become pregnant also have to leave school. This has long-term implications for them as individuals, their families and communities.
Studies have shown that delaying adolescent births could significantly lower population growth rates, potentially generating broad economic and social benefits, in addition to improving the health of adolescents.
PYP also aims to promote the development of positive relationships between young fathers and their children.
Launched recently, it provides a comprehensive “one-stop-shop” care to the pregnant adolescent, her partner, and infant.
According to WHO, about 16 million women between 15 to 19 years old give birth each year – about 11 percent of all births worldwide.
Ninety-five percent of these births occur in low- and middle-income countries, added WHO.
The average adolescent birth rate in middle-income countries is more than twice as high as that in high-income countries, with the rate in low-income countries being five times as high, it stated. (PIA-Iloilo/PN)
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