Nqobile Tshili

THE increase in teenage pregnancies being recorded countrywide under Covid-19 lockdowns could threaten gains made by the country in reducing maternal mortality as most teens conceal pregnancies.

A majority of teenagers are reportedly concealing pregnancies and do not access medical care for expecting mothers.

The teenagers, out fear of being denounced by their families, try unsafe abortions.

Government recently said almost 5 000 teenage pregnancies were recorded countrywide in just two months this year.

Maternal mortality last year dropped from 614 deaths per 100 000 live births, to 462 and experts have raised alarm that increase in teenage pregnancies could see a spike in deaths.

The Ministry of Women’s Affairs, Community, Small and Medium Enterprises Development in March tabled a report in the National Assembly stating that 4 959 cases of teenage pregnancies and 1 774 child marriages were recorded between January and February this year.

The country’s teenage pregnancy rate is at 22 percent and Zimbabwe Demographic Health Survey, conducted in 2015 shows that only 41 percent of boys and girls in the 15-19 age groups have sufficient knowledge or information on reproductive health.

Authorities have expressed concern over the increase in teenage pregnancies at a time when the country is under Covid-19 lockdown.

Women’s Coalition of Zimbabwe representative Mrs Alice Masawi said health care institutions have been capacitated in sexual health rights, which has seen diminishing discrimination of teenagers who fall pregnant, a lot needs to be done at community level.

Mrs Masawi said a lot of teenagers who fall pregnant feel unwanted, forcing others to attempt abortion.

“I’m dealing with a case at the moment of a teenager who fell pregnant and her family wants to chase her away from home. I think this has a lot to do with culture, especially the Shona culture. If a child falls pregnant, she is chased away to the family responsible for her pregnancy. That is what most people with a Shona background do.

“This leads to some of the children concealing their pregnancies which can contribute to maternal deaths. Some of the pregnant teenagers also attempt abortion which can lead to their deaths,” said Mrs Masawi.

She said there is a need for change in attitudes in the handling of teenage pregnancies by families to protect the lives of minors, some of them who are victims of sexual abuse.

Mrs Masawi said there is need for sex education at early age as this could help reduce unwanted pregnancies.

Mpilo Central Hospital acting chief executive officer Professor Solwayo Ngwenya said concealment of teenage pregnancies results in expecting teenage mothers not receiving prenatal care.

Prenatal medical care is provided free of charge to expecting mothers as the country’s health policy provides free medical care to pregnant women.

“Most teenagers, you will discover that their ages are not ideal for pregnancies. Most of them have poor social circumstances and they conceal pregnancies and also their nutritional statuses might not be up to standard. Therefore, they tend to have small babies which are usually associated with premature births,” said Prof Ngwenya.

“Covid-19 has been really an issue when we had stabilised maternal mortality especially at Mpilo Central Hospital. We have seen that Covid-19 is going to have a huge impact especially with the increase in teenage pregnancies while some people may have complications due to failure in accessing antenatal care on time. This could affect the gains that the country has made in reducing maternal mortality.”

He said besides concealing pregnancies, there are also religious beliefs issues resulting in pregnant women approaching health institutions when they face complications, some that cannot be easily attended to.

“The only challenge we are having at the moment is that there are a lot of people following religious beliefs and so forth, they come for medical care at the hospital very late and this results in poor outcomes. So, the Government needs to increase awareness education in those communities,” he said.

Prof Ngwenya said women need to take advantage of free maternal services provided at their diposal as provided by the Government in all public health institutions.

Community Working Group on Health (CWGH) executive director Mr Itai Rusike said the Covid-19 induced lockdowns have disrupted access to youth friendly health services thereby negatively impacting on Sexual and Reproductive Health and Rights (SRHR) and is contributing to an increase in teenage pregnancies.

“The pandemic has also made it more challenging for women to access sexual and reproductive services, like access to family planning.

“As a result, there has been a significant drop in the number of women accessing care during pregnancy and childbirth with an increase in home deliveries due to the lockdown travel restrictions causing an increase in unacceptably high maternal mortality rates,” said Mr Rusike, without providing the actual statistics.

He said the increase in teenage pregnancies shows how Covid-19 impacts various sectors and groups in peculiar forms and programmes have to be tailor made to reach each sector.

“Covid-19 has reminded us that health challenges impact different ages differently. Covid-19 has hit young girls differently and there is a need to respond to their health needs differently,” he said.

“There is also an urgent need to invest in community health workers, increasing domestic health financing and move away from the current heavy reliance on external donors as it is not sustainable and poses a security threat in the event that the donors decide to pull out for whatever reason.”-@nqotshili.

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