mmalabanan
Unaware that she was pregnant, a 12-year-old student from Aklan delivered a baby boy on November 3 at the Dr. Rafael S. Tumbokon Memorial Hospital in Kalibo, Aklan.
The girl’s parents, who were also clueless about their daughter’s pregnancy, thought she was just gaining weight.
According to the parents, the girl had recurring stomach pains.
Eventually, they consulted an albularyo or a quack doctor who claimed that the girl had a cancerous tumour in her stomach causing it to swell.
However, when the girl suffered from a severe stomach pain on Sunday, her parents rushed her to the hospital. It was only then that they learned that the girl was already 8-months pregnant.
The following day, the 12-year-old girl gave birth via normal spontaneous delivery (NSD). Because the baby was born premature, he remains in the intensive care unit (ICU) of the hospital.
Who is the child’s father?
The girl’s parents revealed that their daughter doesn’t have a boyfriend, making it hard for them to determine the identity of the child’s father.
The Department of Social Welfare and Development (DSWD) has requested the Philippine National Police (PNP) to consider the angle that the girl may have been raped.
Teen Pregnancy Common in the Philippines
In Southeast Asia, the Philippines has the highest rate of teenage pregnancies based on a report by United Nations Fund. Moreover, it is the only country with increasing rate.
Among the reasons that drive teenage pregnancy in the country include:
- casual sexual encounters
- peer pressure
- lack of education on safe sex
- breakdown of family life
- lack of good female role models in the family
- absence and inaccessibility of adolescent-friendly clinics.
