Adolescent pregnancy: A dilemma
The adolescent stage can be understood as a period when an individual makes a transition from childhood to adulthood. Rituals to mark a child’s coming of age are common in many societies. For example, Apache tribes celebrate a girl’s first menstruation with a four-day ritual of sunrise to sunset chanting.
In most modern societies, the passage from childhood to adulthood is marked not by a single event, but by a long period known as adolescence- a developmental transition that involves physical, cognitive, emotional, and social.
Changes take varying forms in different social, cultural, and economic settings (Larson and Wilson, 2004). An important physical change to the onset of puberty, the process leads to sexual maturity, or fertility-the ability to reproduce.
Traditionally, adolescence and puberty were thought to begin at the same time, around age 13, but physicians in some Western societies now see pubertal changes before age 10. There is no universally accepted definition of the period of adolescence. The biological beginning of adolescence is defined as coincident with the onset of puberty.
The problems of adolescent fertility have shown a significant increase in many countries where studies have been conducted. Findings have indicated that early child-bearing is strongly and positively associated with increased pregnancy complications, high maternal and infant mortality and lower social and occupational mobility for both mother and child. Early pregnancy poses developmental challenges.
The nutritional requirements of pregnancy compete with a maturing body’s need for nourishment during puberty. Furthermore, the birth canal and pelvic bone are not fully developed in a girl just entering her teens, making childbirth among very young women more difficult and painful and often permanently damaging. Thus, it is not surprising that teenage girls face an average of twice the risk of dying from pregnancy or childbirth than women aged 20 to 34 years. According to the Demographic and Health Surveys (DHS), their babies are more likely to die, too. The most complications that affect both adolescent mothers and their children are early and late bleeding, severe anaemia, prolonged and difficult labour, severe hypertension, prematurity, stillbirths, pre-natal mortality and low birth weight. According to the health ministry, complications related to pregnancy and childbirth are the number one killers of girls aged 15 to 19 in developing countries and the use of contraceptives in Namibia, among young people aged 15-19 is relatively low at 24% while the teenage pregnancy, rate remains high at 19% (The Namibian, Wednesday 13 July 2022). On the 29th September 2022, The Namibian, a local newspaper carried a story where the African Report on Child Wellbeing, indicated that African girls are being robbed of their future and 7% of women in Namibia between the ages of 20 and 24 were married before the age of 18, while 15% of women in this age group have birth before the age of 18.
In Zambia, the median age at first intercourse is 16.3 years for women. This means that at least 50% of the girls who have their first sexual encounter are 16.3 years. Ninety-four per cent of the adolescents who became pregnant have never used a contraceptive method. Child-bearing begins early in Zambia. Over 25% of teenagers (15-19 years) have given birth to a child by the time they are 19 years.
Some observers point to such factors as the reduced stigma on unwed motherhood, media glorification of sex, the lack of a clear message that sex and parenthood are for adults, the influence of childhood sexual abuse, failure of parents to communicate with children, wrong information is passed on from peers and perhaps the most profound one is that adolescents lack reliable sexual and reproductive health information and thus basic knowledge to make responsible choices regarding their reproductive and sexual behaviour.
In light of this, we have to bear in mind that this is not just the problem of the government, but every individual. The response of society to the reproductive needs of adolescents should be based on information that helps them attain the level of maturity required to make responsible decisions. Information and services should be made available to adolescents to help them understand their sexuality and protect them from STDs and unwanted pregnancies. Adolescent fertility has several implications for any country and world. It lays the foundation for the world’s demographic future. It is thus pertinent to consider the issue of adolescent fertility carefully and practically. The problem of teenage pregnancies requires a multifaceted solution. It must include programmes and policies to encourage postponing or refraining from sexual activity, but it also must recognise that many young people do become sexually active and need education and information to prevent pregnancy and infection. It requires attention to underlying factors that put teenagers and families at risk–reducing poverty, school failure, behavioural and family problems, and expanding employment, and family life education (AGI, 1994: Children’s Defense Fund, 1988; Kerby, 1997) – and it should target those young people at highest risk. Comprehension early intervention programmes for pre-schoolers and elementary school students have reduced teenage pregnancy (Lonezek et al., 2002; Hawkins, Catalano, Abbott, & Hill, 1999) Because adolescents with high aspirations are less likely to become pregnant, programmes that motivate young people to achieve and raise their self-esteem have had some success (Allen & Philliber, 2001).
* (Reverend Jan A Scholtz is the former chairperson of //Kharas regional and former !Nami#nus constituency councillor and is a holder of Diploma in Theology, B-Theo (SA), a Diploma in Youth Work and Development from the University of Zambia (UNZA), Diploma in Education III (KOK) BA (HED) from UNISA.