A Midwife of the Dodo Amanfrom Health Centre in the Kadjebi District of the Volta region has blamed the alarming rate of teenage pregnancies in the country on poverty.
Madam Olivia Agbeko, explained that most of the victims were from poor homes and were unable to properly take care of their daily needs.
She observed that many of the teenage pregnant girls who come to their facility for antenatal services were either school dropouts or unemployed, putting them and their unborn children in a more precarious situation.
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Madam Agbeko was addressing some clients in Dodo Amanfrom at the weekend as part of an innovative health education campaign strategy being implemented by Savana Signatures, an NGO in collaboration with the Ghana Health Service aimed at improving maternal and child health in three regions of Ghana.
The Technology for Maternal and Child Health (T4MCH) project is being implemented in the Northern, Upper West and Volta regions with funding from Global Affairs Canada (GAC).
Madam Agbeko appealed to parents to take good care of their children in order to prevent them from falling foul to pre-marital activities stressing that men who impregnate teenagers should be severely dealt with to serve as a deterrent to others.
She commended Savana Signatures for introducing such an innovative educational technology which aided them in their outreach programmes explaining that many pregnant women received periodic voice and SMS messages on pregnancy and childcare.
Diana Isaac, a pregnant woman who had been receiving periodic voice and SMS messages through the T4MCH project urged the implementors to extend the facility to all pregnant women to enhance quality health and reduce maternal and infant mortalities.