Should Parents Introduce Their Young Daughters To Family Planning?

Cases of teenage pregnancy among Kenyan school-going girls have been on the rise. Despite the efforts by authorities to end the vice, girls just keep on getting pregnant and dropping out of school. Is it time for Kenyan parents to introduce their young daughters to family planning?

Stats show that 1 in every 5 girls between 15-19 years in Kenya is either pregnant or already a mother. At the same time, about 13,000 Kenyan girls drop out of school due to teen pregnancies.

According to Global Citizen, more than 152,000 teenage girls in Kenya became pregnant between March and May 2020 due to economic hardship during the country’s nationwide COVID lockdown.

The Adolescent Pregnancy in Kenya outlined nine counties of Nairobi, Kajiado, Homa Bay, Meru, Kericho, Narok, Kisii, Mandera, and Bomet, as those with the highest rate of teen pregnancies in Kenya.

The immediate effect to these young mothers is that their lives completely take a different shift. The majority of them drop out of school to look after their babies. Given that most of them come from poor backgrounds, the arrival of the baby often puts a further strain on the family income, leading to desperation and suffering.

There have been several discussions as to whether family planning lessons should be introduced in Kenyan schools. Many parents were against the suggestions. But it is the proverbial ostrich, hiding our heads in the sand when the ground is already burning. I think it is time we introduced our kids to family planning for their own good and future.

The use of birth control pills can be a relatively safe option for these teenagers throughout their reproductive years, with no increased risk due to their young age. Most parents might find this as a way of giving their daughters a chance to practice immorality freely but thinking about it deeply, the effects of them becoming mothers at a young age go beyond what many can imagine.

There are many types of family planning methods in Kenya. If a parent is scared to introduce their daughters to one, a health practitioner can be of help. For instance, there is the use of an injection that protects one against pregnancy for a period of time. There are also implants and the use of a coil. All these can be found at any health facility and given free of charge in all government hospitals.

The problem with many Kenyan parents is that they live in the pretense that their daughters are saints until the day they pop up with pregnancy that is when they start to throw ugly words at them. Your kids don’t live in caves. They live in a world where intercourse is like a drug. It is not taboo to talk with your daughter(s) about sexuality and reproductive health.

We are not living in the 1960s. Parents should introduce their daughters to family planning as early as once they start their menstruation cycle because at this age the body is ready to cope with the family planning meds.

If you are a parent, consider the life opportunities your daughter might have if you give her the support, she needs to use contraceptives, and teach her how they work.

Would you rather have your 13yr old daughter be a mother at her tender age or help her not to be a mother at that age?

Most of the parents spend their time working and don’t have time to spend with their daughters and have “a talk”. They don’t get to know what is going around in their daughters’ lives they assume that my daughter is a good girl, she’s young and naive. Love and dating are the new normal for this generation and we all know what happens during that love and dating period.

Lack of knowledge about sexual health and family planning is what has led to the high number of cases of teenage pregnancy. At school, kids are not taught how to negotiate safe sex. A parent is always the first teacher of their children so it is up to you as a parent to pass this knowledge to your daughters.

By Natasha.