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Abigail Mawonde Herald Correspondent
MUTAMBARA Mission Hospital in Chimanimani District has recorded a surge in teen pregnancies with 237 recorded since January this year.
A report by the Ministry of Health and Child Care indicates that 19-year- olds top the list.
“Statistics for child delivery since the beginning of the year until end of June reveal that out of the 760 deliveries done at the institution, 237 deliveries were from teenagers,” it said.
The statistics show that there were 72 deliveries from 19-year-old girls.
The figures further show that 18 years olds were responsible for 63 births while 17 years olds delivered 66 babies.
The report reveals that 15-year-olds made 10 deliveries at the hospital and those aged 14 gave birth to three.
A doctor in the area told ministry officials who visited Chimanimani that illegal panners were to blame for the surge in teenage pregnancies.
“Illegal diamond and gold mining activities in Rusitu and Hotspings has seen many teenagers being lured into engaging in early sexual activities with the miners (Makorokoza) hence resulting in teenage pregnancies,” said Dr Godwin Choga.
The report asserts that most of the men who impregnated the teenagers were said to be coming from other districts and towns in Zimbabwe, hence making it difficult to trace the perpetrators in the district.
Cross border activity across Zimbabwe, Mozambique and South Africa was also linked to the increase in teenage pregnancies in the district.
The Ministry of Health and Child Care is working with partners who include Regional Psycho Social Support Initiative (REPSSI) in Chimanimani district to offer psycho social support to the teenage mothers; and Restless Developments, which works with children mostly in schools on adolescents sexual reproductive health.
Recently, The Herald reported that about 240 pupils had dropped out of school in Mbire District, Mashonaland Central Province, chiefly because of early child marriages — some of which had been formalized due to early pregnancies.
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