Don't Agonize Over Gladys-ORGANIZE for Children's Rights in Kenya
Onyango Oloo Adds His Voice to a National Outcry...
Like tens of thousands of Kenyans accessing our newspapers via the internet, I was literally stupefied for twelve seconds when I visited the East African Standard website to find out what was happening at home a few hours ago.
The picture by Soni Tanu of yet another brand new child mother,10-year-old Gladys Chelagat(a former pupil of Chemamul Primary School) holding her baby weighing 2.8kg at Kericho District Hospital stunned me as I reflected that this little msichana was four and a half years younger than my own teen son- who is still very much a child to me. I shared the anger, bewilderment and shock of most of my compatriots who have been united in their outrage across a range of Kenyan discussion forums. We all clicked ferociously for the text to accompany that harrowing image- but this turned out to be a fruitless quest.
Having recovered from my shock, I would like to urge myself and all Kenyans reading this that we really should not be shocked AT ALL.
There are other child mothers out there, as you can see from the picture below:
Now consider this factoid:
- Each year 1 in every 10 births worldwide is to a mother who is still a child herself.
- Girls in their teens in poor countries are twice as likely to die from pregnancy and childbirth related causes compared with older women. Girls 14 and under face even greater risks.
- Children born to children are more likely to be delivered prematurely and at low birth weight and are more likely to die in the first month of life.
- Young mothers also face enormous health risks: Obstructed labour is common and results in newborn deaths and death or disabilities for the mother. Research shows that young mothers and their babies also are at greater risk of contracting HIV/AIDS.
- Globally, the minimum-age-for-marriage laws must be improved and enforced.
- Canada has a low rate of infant mortality due to a high level of young girls enrolled in secondary school.
SOURCE
Here is an excerpt from the 2004 Save The Children Report focusing on Child Mothers:
More than 1 million infants and an estimated 70,000 adolescent mothers die each year in the developing world because young girls are marrying and having children before they are physically ready for parenthood, according to the report released today.
The reports Early Motherhood Risk Ranking identifies 50 countries where motherhood is most devastating for young girls and their babies. Nine of the ten highest-risk countries are in sub-Saharan Africa. Niger, Liberia and Mali top the list. Other countries with high-risk scores outside of Africa include Afghanistan, Bangladesh, Guatemala, Haiti, Nepal, Nicaragua and Yemen.
In the ten highest risk countries, according to the report, more than 1 in 6 teenage girls aged 15 to 19 give birth each year and nearly 1 in 7 babies born to these teenagers die before age 1. The rankings are based on marriage and birth rates among teenage girls in each country as well as infant mortality rates for children born to teenage mothers.
This is so damn sad
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