Children’s rights organisation Teddy Bear Clinic says that teenage pregnancy should be declared a pandemic in South Africa, as children who have not yet reached their teenage years are now frequently becoming pregnant.
This follows concern expressed by the Northern Cape Education Department after more than 3 000 pupils fell pregnant between last year and March this year.
The statistics from the province show that these are children between the ages of 10 and 19 years-old.
Shaheda Omar, is a clinical director at the Teddy Bear Clinic, “We actually have to declare this a pandemic, for 10-year-old to give birth to a child. A child giving birth to a child is not only alarming, it’s disheartening, it’s soul destroying. We’re robbing that child and the newborn of all the opportunities and actually impacting on their trajectory. Long term implications are physical, psychological, and all other effects that will affect them in their lifelong span.”
Omar shares more in video below:
