Govt urged to further aid young mums

The problem of underage pregnancies can’t be ignored amid national efforts addressing declining fertility rates, an expert in education and child development has said.

“The government must be concerned about the quality of life of the children that are to be born,” said Sumate Noklang, a PhD Development Education Programme lecturer at the Graduate School of Srinakharinwirot University.

Mr Sumate led a research study in 2021-2022 among 400 individuals from a rural community in a Central Plains province who had the highest rate of underage adolescent mothers in the country.

The study aimed to develop a mechanism and community empowerment model to help fragile groups and provide a good quality of life for the country’s future population.

The study showed the issues of underage pregnancies can be mitigated by creating self-esteem, awareness and community support.

“The community plays a significant role in empowering the teen girls’ self-esteem,” said Mr Sumate, who conducted the research with Peeradet Prakongpan, another lecturer at the Graduate School of Srinakharinwirot University.

With support from local health volunteers, guidebooks offering instructions on how people in the community should properly treat the young mothers were given to those around them, including families, relatives and teachers.

“We were hoping that the manual guidelines will reduce societal stigma,” he said. “Under care in the community, the young mothers could build up their self-compassion that would encourage them to take good care of their babies, instead of leaving them with ill attentions that would finally lead to social problems.”

According to the law, 20 is a mature age, Mr Sumate said. “However, not all 20-year-old women are necessarily ready to have the baby,” he said. “The important thing is how to set up a proper environment to support the young mothers in raising their children with a good quality of life.”

He suggested the government takes a key role in supporting the community to ensure that pregnant teens would not be left alone or live in unfriendly environments.

The Department of Health says pregnancy cases among underage adolescents have dropped from 120,000 cases in 2012 to 47,000 cases in 2023. The success has been attributed to efforts by several agencies to mitigate the problems by creating awareness of birth control, including putting sex education in the national curriculum. Thai law allows pregnant girls to maintain their education, which aids them with further education and career opportunities.

Sumate: Did study on underage mums