Cape Town - The Western Cape Department of Health and Wellness has recorded the lowest figure of adolescent pregnancies so far in 2024.
Department spokesperson, Dwayne Evans, confirmed to the Cape Argus yesterday that the province saw 9 588 pregnancies of girls aged between 10 and 19 years old, down by 6 171 from 15 759 the same time last year.
The highest number recorded in the province was in 2022, with 16 120, while 2021 saw 15 818 adolescent pregnancies.
Health MEC, Mireille Wenger, said adolescent pregnancies highlight the urgent need for increasing social protective factors, making health care accessible everywhere and strong community support.
“This number also underscores the importance of the whole of society and government working together to address factors contributing to these pregnancies, including issues of consent.
“It’s a call to action to ensure young people have the knowledge, resources, and protection they need for their futures.”
National spokesperson for the Department of Health, Foster Mohale, said between April 2023 and March 2024, a total of 2 716 girls between the ages of 10-14 years, and 119 586 girls between 15-19 years, became mothers in the country.
It was also revealed that the province that recorded the most pregnancies for children between the ages of 10-14 years old was KwaZulu-Natal, with 610, followed by Gauteng with 430, and the Eastern Cape with 395.
Limpopo followed closely with 375 child pregnancies and Mpumalanga with 293.
The Western Cape recorded 286, North West 151, the Free State 106 and the Northern Cape 70.
The department said in the same period, nearly 120 000 girls, between the ages of 15 and 19 gave birth.
For girls between 15 and 19 years old, the department said they recorded 119 586 pregnancies.
KwaZulu-Natal again reported the most instances for this group, with 30 478.
Gauteng recorded 19 406 teenage pregnancies, Limpopo 16 262, the Eastern Cape 15 827, Mpumalanga 11 534, the Western Cape 9 622, North West 7 525, the Free State 5 395 and the Northern Cape 3 538, for the same age group.
The department noted that more than 1 000 girls between the ages of 10 and 14 terminated their pregnancies, while close to 20 000 aged between 15 and 19 also opted to abort at public health facilities.
The majority of the abortions were due to unplanned pregnancies.
The department said they introduced a number of interventions, including over 1 000 Youth Friendly Zones in primary health facilities or public clinics across the country, to create an enabling environment for young people, girls in particular, to access sexual and reproductive health services without feeling judged.
“These zones are managed by young nurses and doctors to make young people feel open to discuss their health needs without fear of being judged. Some of these young mothers don’t have family support structures to look after the children when they go to school, this contributes to school dropouts because teen mothers are unable to become caregivers and learners at the same time,” Mohale said.
tracy-lynn.ruiters@inl.co.za
Cape Argus