BLAME PARENTS TOO FOR RISE IN TEENAGE PREGNACIES

A single father, Mr. Richard Danquah, has blamed the rising spate of teenage pregnancy on the failure of some parents to take responsibility in providing for their wards.

According to Mr. Danquah who is a pharmacist, he himself has been guilty of not paying sufficient attention to his daughter’s emotional and psychological needs when she lost her mother.

Speaking with this reporter last week in Kaneshie, Mr. Danquah narrated how he had been too busy with his job and did not pay enough attention to his daughter who eventually dropped out of school. He said, “nurturing children does not only involve feeding and clothing them but also building a cordial relationship with them to enable them voice out their fears and problems”.

Another father, Mr. Lucas Asante, shared a similar view. He blamed some parents for the indiscipline behavior of their wards causing rise in early parenting and teenage pregnancy. He said that the adolescent stage is a critical stage in human development making teenagers vulnerable and exposed to a variety of challenges.

Miss Patricia Quaye a single mother who struggles to feed her three daughters due to negligence of their father complained bitterly that some men fail to take responsibility for their kids.

She said that “being a single mother caring for her daughters is not an easy task because she is a trader and she does not earn much but she always advises her daughters to be content with what she gives them no matter

how small it may be. She said, “some parents fail to educate their wards about sexuality so the children often listen to their peers and get influenced to indulge in unprotected sexual intercourse causing a rise in teenage pregnancies.

On many occasions the narration on many forums blame the teenage victims for being wayward. Citinewsroom.com has reported that teenage pregnancies in Ghana hit 555,575 in the last five years and records show that in Ghana teenage hit 555,575 in the last five years and records show that in Ghana teenage pregnancies have been on the rise.

Data from Ghana Health Service District Health Information Management System (DHIMS) reveals the annual breakdown for pregnancies involving 10–14-year-olds and the Ashanti region recorded 2,165 cases of pregnancies among teenagers under 14 and was ranked the highest followed by the Eastern region with 1,528 cases and Central region recorded some 1,327 cases).

The Institute of Statistical, Social and Economic Research has also revealed in their latest report on teenage pregnancies in Ghana that about 10.6%of all teenage girls got pregnant in 2022 as recorded by the percentage of adolescents attending antenatal care. This statistic is marginally lower than the 2021 figure of 11.1%.

Meanwhile the average rate of pregnancy among teenage girls spanning 2018 to 2022 is 11.26%. According to the Ghana Health Service data, 102.673teenagers were reported pregnant in 2022 alone and this number is slightly lower than the three-year average of 107,373 for 2021,2022 and 2023. The total for three years is 322,121.