Motherhood in Childhood

developing gender-equitable attitudes, a decline
in partner violence was noted only in cases when
actions also focused on economic empowerment,
gender and sexual health, and group solidarity
(Pronyk et al., 2006; Jewkes et al., 2008) and/or
engaged men and boys (Verma et al., 2008).
Investing in girls who are pregnant
or have children
Much can be done to reduce the harmful health,
social and economic effects of pregnancy on girls
and ensure that opportunities for education, jobs,
livelihoods and participation in the affairs of their
communities are not lost, for both married and
unmarried adolescents.
Ensuring access to services for pregnant
adolescents or new mothers often means providing
financial support for health care and
diet, advice about breastfeeding, help returning
to school or training, shelter and services
if they have been rejected by their families
and contraceptive or birth-spacing information
and services.
Critical factors for improving maternal health
for adolescents include access to and use of antenatal
care to identify and treat underlying health
issues, including malaria, HIV or anaemia, providing
obstetric care to ensure the safe delivery of
young mothers and their infants, treating complications
from unsafe abortion, providing postnatal
and newborn care, and making contraception
available to allow birth spacing (Advocates for
Youth, 2007).
But for millions of adolescents around the
world, access to services is limited by a range of
economic, social and geographical factors as well
as availability. Personal autonomy—or the lack of
it—is a key determinant of access and use. This
obstacle is particularly daunting for girls who
are in marriages and have little say in decisions
regarding their own health and little or no access
to money needed for transportation to clinics
or to pay for care (World Health Organization,
2007). Girls may also not seek care if they believe
providers of services will be judgmental or refuse
to accommodate them.
In general, adolescents seek care later, and
receive less. Pregnant girls often lack knowledge
about which services exist, when care should be
sought and how to find care at the right time.
Girls who do not receive antenatal care are less
“When I was 17, I got a boyfriend at school. I
asked my girlfriends about sex and they said
you cannot get pregnant the first 10 days after
your period. But I got pregnant. The boy was
so scared he ran away, and my parents wanted
to kill me. Luckily, a teacher from my school
came along and helped me break the news to
my parents. The teacher also told them that I
could go back to school after giving birth. At
first, my parents didn’t accept, but afterwards
they were convinced. Now, I finished school at
20 years old and I want to be a teacher. I wish
the topic is more discussed at school so that
girls don’t make the mistake I did.”
Phoebe, 20, Uganda
THE STATE OF WORLD POPULATION 2013
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