LEARN6 - Mission 6: Teen pregnancy

Teen precnancy
Teen pregnancy is one of Madagascar's severe issues. Girls as young as 12 or 13 years old get pregnant because they lack education and birth control. Often the birth comes with a lot of other difficulties such as travelling to far away hospitals, high death rates right after giving birth and post-birth infections leading to dangerous diseases and sometimes even death. UN Population Fund revealed that the Sofia region has one of the highest death rates in the country, with 1 in every 10 mothers dying during childbirth.

Many mothers are still children themselves without fully developed bodies and not having the strength to give birth. They suffer from dangerous injuries during the birth process and are often rejected afterwards because of the smell and additional expense of soap and pads. Some of them can't afford going to the hospital and are forced to rely on "matrons" (elder woman in the village having knowledge of traditional medicine). Since matrons use traditional medicine they often give the girls very strong herbs. However, due to the strong effect of the herbs they can cause a shock reaction in the body.

Solutions offered by UNFPA
In order to avoid dangerous side effects caused by herbs UNFPA offers to train matrons who are taught that a woman in labour should not see the sun rise twice. They also train community health workers and provide kits for delivery. UNFPA is trying to reach more women with birth control which has become one of the obsticles because many husbands don't want their wives to use birth control. In an effort to overcome this issue UNFPA has built a special clinic in Antsohihy where it supplies birth control options that last several months. They also focus on sexual education such as having discussions and showings movies about HIC, STIs, birth controls.