STATISTICS from the Linden Hospital Complex show that 18% of the deliveries done at the hospital are on teenagers ranging from the age of 13 to 19. This was deemed worrying by Chief Executive Officer (CEO) of the hospital, Dr. Farouk Riyasat, who revealed that for 2016, out of the 998 live births at the hospital, 179 were delivered to teenage mothers.

Therefore every month, approximately 14 teenagers are delivering babies at the hospital. The statistics also show that for 2016, two of these teenagers were HIV positive.

According to Dr Riyasat, who is also an obstetrician, this creates a correlation with the hospital’s high rate of caesarean deliveries. For the year 2016, the percentage of total C-Section stands at 30% and while some of the cases are mothers who previously had C-Section, the figures were racked up because of the number of young teenagers.

“A lot of them are really young, 15 years, 14 years, they don’t have the anatomy – the space to deliver,” Dr Riyasat said. He added that all the cases are reported to the Ministry of Social Protection and a large percentage of the girls are from the Indigenous communities on the Linden Soesdyke Highway and riverain communities in Region 10.

This was corroborated by Probation Social Services Officer, Amrel Beckles, attached to the Ministry’s office in Linden. She also added that a large percentage of the girls are from the mined-out communities in Region 10, such as Coomacka Mines, Nottinghamshire, Old England and Three Friends.

A source close to the hospital revealed to this newspaper that many of the teenagers would arrive at the hospital to deliver without any provisions for themselves and babies. Beckles added that the Ministry is aware of the situation and does follow-up on the reported cases.

Once the girls willingly give a statement identifying the alleged father and they are found, they are charged with statutory rape. The Ministry is also involved in sensitization exercises, in collaboration with non-governmental organizations across Linden. The bodies would visit schools and other institutions in an effort to bring awareness to the consequences of early involvement in sexual activity.

Cases of Abuse
While many of the cases are consensual, there are incidents of sexual abuse and in most of the cases, the perpetrator lives in the home with the teenager. Last November, Mayor of Linden, Carwyn Holland, told Director of Social Services, Wentworth Tanner, that there are many cases of sexual abuse in the riverain and hinterland communities of Region 10. He spoke of several teenagers coming forward and relating their stories of abuse and rape to the NGO – Linden Youth Leaders.

“Thirteen-year-old, 12-year-old, 16-year-old, they all complained of being raped when they go home by step fathers, fathers, being molested, the majority of these complaints were from the outlining areas, Anarika, Ituni and Kwakwani and there are some places down the river…it was very sad,” Mayor Holland related.

Meanwhile, Tanner said that the Ministry will establish partnerships with the NGO’s in the region so as to better tackle social issues.

“We would like to start by building capacity in those groups, providing people with information, create sensitization and awareness so that persons can identify cases of abuse and things like that,” he said.

Another priority is the establishment of another office on the Wismar shore so that persons would not have to travel to Mackenzie to benefit from the services. There were also talks of establishing a safe home for abused children.