Teenage Pregnancy in South Africa 2013/ 2014

According to Times Live teenage pregnancy in South Africa for the financial year 2013/ 2014 was about 21 000 girls, including 717 primary school girls.

Read the article here.

The teenage years are a difficult time for most adolescents. A teenage pregnancy will affect every aspect of the girl’s mental and physical well-being.

There are a lot of organizations that focus on preventing teenage pregnancy in South Africa, but the truth is that teenage pregnancies will happen and are happening at an alarming rate.

Some girls will have the financial and/ or emotional support of her family, but very often this is not the case. There is a lot of talk about how to prevent teenage pregnancies, but what happens when a girl is pregnant. What does she do and where does she go for support?

With the shame and fear the girl must feel it must be a very sad and lonely place to be. She needs to be able to make the right choices for herself as no matter what she chooses to do it will be a life-changing event.

Can these young moms succeed as parents and in other aspects in their life?

Falling pregnant in your teens may seem like your life has come to an end, but there is support available.

When I was 14 years old one of my school peers, Tracy Engelbrecht, fell pregnant and dropped out to have her baby. There were lots of rumours about her which died down after a couple of months. Years later I came across a book written by her called The Girl Who Couldn’t Say No. An honest book about her experience of being a teenage mom.

She now runs a non-profit organisation in Cape Town called Young Mom Support which supports and assists pregnant teenagers to make a decision on what to do about their pregnancy. Whether they choose to terminate their pregnancy, give their baby up for adoption or keep their baby they are given the support and information they need to make their decision work for them.