Statistics from Gulu Regional Referral Hospital indicates that teens’ pregnancy accounts for 25 percent of deliveries at the health facility, according to Julius Angora, a gynecologist at the hospital.
Angora revealed this to Parliamentary Health Committee on Friday last week. The committee was on a visit to the health facility.
Angora described the situation of teen pregnancies as worrying.
Most of the teens, according to the Gulu hospital staff are between the ages of 13-18.
Each month, the regional health facility that serves northern Uganda delivers at least 350 babies.
Jacqueline Aol Rama, the District Woman MP for Nebbi, a member of the health committee expressed concern and worry for over young girls giving birth at such an early age.
MP Aol noted that as a mother of a 9-year-old girl, the challenge for her is whether to allow young girls to access family planning services in order to keep them away from early pregnancy or not.
The Uganda Demographic and Health Survey 2016 (UDHS) attributes the rise in early child-bearing to low education among girls aged 15 to 19.
Recently, The Minister of Health, Dr Jane Ruth Aceng, said teenage pregnancy is a national problem.
Dr Aceng told journalists in an interview at Lalogi in Omoro district that teenage pregnancies are the largest contributor to maternal mortality in the country due to pregnancy-related complications.
She explained that teenage pregnancy comes with complications such as the destruction of birth canal system, hypertension and death, among others.
