Unplanned parenthood

JUSTISIA SHIPENA
Sina Poppe, Alexander Stechow, Mukuambi Undjizuva, Kaitieua Jazukuka



A teenage pregnancy is a pregnancy that occurs for a woman under the age of 20. Although technically not a teenager, a young woman 12 or under who is pregnant falls into this definition teenage pregnancy as well. In Namibia there is a rapid increase in teenage pregnancy referring to the article that was published in the Namibian newspaper article in 2014.

If children in schools are falling pregnant, then who is going to change the country from poverty? Because most of the girls that fall pregnant don’t make it in life as they become mothers they therefore don’t go back to school. During the Augustineum and German exchange program with the pupils from Bremen, Germany learners stated that it is rare thing to come upon a young pregnant girl in their schools.

“It’s very rare for teenagers to fall pregnant mostly you will find not even one girl per school” said Alex Stechow.

In most cases you will find that teenagers are falling pregnant for different reasons. Some teenagers fall pregnant as they happen to have sexual intercourse because of situations at home such as poverty, financial issues and some because of peer pressure and some are also too shy to involve their parents.

“The use of contraceptives among young people aged between 15 and 19 is 24%, compared to a national contraceptive prevalence rate of 50%. However, sexual activity can be compounded by poverty, peer pressure or lack of education”, the report stated.

Looking at why there is a low teenage pregnancy in Germany, sexual relations between adolescents are common and widely socially accepted since the sexual liberalization in the 1960s and 1970s. Furthermore, less than 20 % of German women born between 1935 and 1950 had their first sexual intercourse before the age of 18.

The percentage has increased to more than 70 %. Today, most German adolescents have their first intercourse in a steady romantic relationship. Only one percent of the girls and 3 % of the boys had their first sexual intercourse with a stranger.

The introduction of abortion in Namibia will be the only solution to teen pregnancy because some girls keep their pregnancies not knowing what to do or how to go about obtaining a legal TOP. As a result, they end up buying pills which have negative consequences for them, especially if their pregnancy is advanced.



This means some girls end up in police cells for illegal TOP or murder depending on the gestation period. TOP education must be included in sexual reproductive health training (family planning). Currently it is not, and one may hypothesise that this is partly because TOP is not family planning and should not be seen as one.

Speaking to Global Stories Theoila Jazukukua, a medical doctor at the Katutura state hospital in Windhoek said they do you experience a shortage of medication supply however they try their outmost best to fight diseases.

Jazukukua metioned that legalising abortion in Namibia is a big issue to talk about as one needs to look at the pros and cons of it.



“There are people that are against it and there are people that are for it,” she said.

She further said having a first aid kid at every school is a great option and suggested it should be implemented both at home and school.