MOSSEL BAY NEWS - After a KwaNonqaba resident told the Mossel Bay Advertiser that personally she knew of three girls who were in matric last year who had now fallen pregnant and would be single moms, the Advertiser investigated to gauge an idea of the rate of child and teenage pregnancies in Mossel Bay.
On enquiry, Health Department Garden Route and Central Karoo spokesperson Nadia Ferreira said there had been a decrease in child and teenage pregnancies over the past 12 months compared with the previous 12 months.
She said: "Mossel Bay Provincial Hospital had 224 deliveries for patients 10 to 18 years from April 2019 until March 2020 in comparison to 186 from April 2020 until March 2021."
Child care grant
The SASSA child care grant is only R440 per month. A woman who has been a teacher in KwaNonqaba for a decade, said: "When I ask girls why they have fallen pregnant, they say: 'It just happened, Miss.'
When she tells them: "There is a healthcare clinic; you can get free contraception there," the girls complain that there are long long queues at the clinic.
The teacher said: "Teenage pregnancies have definitely increased since I started teaching. Most of the girls fall pregnant before they reach matric. They have the baby and return to school.
"Usually their mother takes care of the baby or the baby is put in a crèche. Parents need to know what their children are doing and take them to the clinic to get contraception. It is terrible what is happening out there."
The teacher said it seemed to her there were more pregnancies after the Covid-19 lockdown.
'Rescued from a situation'
A woman in ministry in Mossel Bay, Khanyisa Gadu, said: "In my experience, girls fall pregnant to be rescued from a situation. But in the end, the man who makes them pregnant runs away."
Gadu is married to the pastor of De Bakke Community Church, she is a staunch advocator of marriage as a sacred covenant and is a marriage counsellor.
Alluding to the trend of girls falling for "sugar daddies", Gadu said: "Men play with the vulnerability of young girls, promising them a better life.
"Somehow they fall for that. If they are living in disadvantaged circumstances, they are more likely to be taken advantage of."
Gadu said she had heard girls say: "My boyfriend asked for this child."
She says: "When I was growing up in the 2000s, in my 20s, we never wanted to have children before marriage. You could be chased out of the house if you fell pregnant. Times have changed now. We need to be gentle with these girls and explain the dangers to them."
'Make use of clinic services'
Health Department spokesperson Nadia Ferreira said: "We encourage the youth to make use of our free services, even now during Covid-19.
"We have a range of free family planning options available as well as emergency contraception, should it be needed.
"If you have had unprotected sex within the last five days (120 hours) and are not planning a pregnancy, then emergency contraception is an option."
She added: "We remind anyone who suspects they are pregnant to visit their local clinic as soon as possible to confirm the pregnancy and to book all other necessary antenatal appointments. All patient information is regarded as confidential."
She said children older than 12 years could make use of these services without adult consent.
Ferreira said cellphone apps such as B-Wise were a good source of reliable information for the youth.
"B-Wise is a website made for your cellphone. You can use any phone that can go online. It doesn't have to be a smartphone." Go to https://bwisehealth.com/.
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