Bududa grapples with teenage pregnancies

Looking worried and disillusioned, Agnes Nandutu, a 15-year-old, will soon give birth.
A Primary Six drop out, Nandutu says the man who made her pregnant took off after finding out about the pregnancy.
“He advised me to abort but I refused. He run away and I have never seen him since then. It has been my parents taking care of me and my unborn baby,” Nandutu, says.

Nandutu, who is committed to her antenatal visits at Bududa hospital, says she is prepared to take care of her unborn baby because children are a gift from God.
“It was by accident it was conceived but that does not mean its evil even if I am still young,” she says, adding that the community treated her and her family as outcasts when she accepted to carry the pregnancy.

Dr Imelda Tumuhairwe, the Bududa District health officer, says Nandutu is one of the many teenage pregnancy cases.
“Out of 45 deliveries conducted at Bududa hospital per month alone, half of the deliveries are of young girls under the age of 18 years,” Dr Tumuhairwe says.

She decries the high rate of teenage pregnancies, which she attributes to cultural hindrance, high illiteracy levels, poverty and negative attitude towards education of the girl- child.
“We need to break the culture of negative attitude towards education of the girl-child because most parents still think educating girls is wastage of resources,” she said.

Basing on that, this being a year of circumcision in Bugisu sub-region, it means more underage girls will fall victim to men who take advantage of the season to sexually abuse them.
But Mr Joseph Masabasi, a local circumcision surgeon, says government officials should stop blaming ills in the communities on their culture.

However, Dr Tumuhairwe says the dangers of early pregnancy are devastating, which is why they have to speak against the wrong aspect of the fete.
“We receive quite good number of girls suffering in pain because of rotten uteruses that are brought up as result of conducting unsafe abortions and in most cases we conduct operations or refer them to Mbale Regional Referral Hospital,” she says.

Dr Tumuhairwe says it worrying and painful when a girl’s uterus is removed because it means she will never give birth due to abortion as a result of unwanted pregnancy.
The officer-in-charge of maternity ward in Bududa hospital, Ms Specioze Nabwire, says the number of teenagers who come to a hospital with complications from attempted abortions has increased from 20 per month to 60 and in some month, the numbers escalates up to 200 registered cases.

She attributed the increase of abortion to availability of inducing drugs sold in pharmacies and drug shops, where owners are only interested in making profits.

The Bududa hospital medical superintendent, Dr Sylvia Natenge, says most of the girls who get pregnant at an early age fear to visit the health facilities for antenatal services, which forces them to opt for abortion.
“They are forced to abort the pregnancy yet the complications are worse if it goes wrong,” she says.
Dr Natenge, says abortion is an illegal act, which is characterised by numerous dangers to the lives of the girls.
“The practice of intentionally ending a pregnancy prematurely exposes these girls to both physical and psychological health problems,” she says.

Ms Bennah Namono, the LC5 councillor for Bushiribo Sub- County, attributes increasing cases of early pregnancies to parents who trade their daughters in exchange for dowry.
The LC5 chairperson, Mr Wilson Watila, however blames the rising teenage pregnancies and abortion on poor parenting.
“Parents have neglected their duties in families,” he says.

THE LAW
Article 22(2) of the Constitution stipulates that no person has the right to terminate the life of an unborn child except as may be prescribed by law. Under the Uganda Penal Code 15 June 1950, Section 217, the law states that abortion is illegal except with medical advice and assistance by a registered physician due to clear and sound reasons where the mother’s life is at stake if the pregnancy is not ended.