The meeting took place on Tuesday (Aug 16) at the Phuket Provincial Public Health Office and was overseen by Pichet Panaphong, Deputy Governor of Phuket.
Data from a report shared at the meeting revealed that there have been a total of 3,607 pregnant women in Phuket so far this year and of that total 142 were under the age of 20 years old and 40 required high quality antenatal care. A total of 44 required antenatal care before 12 weeks and 29 experienced premature birth.
The committee at the meeting also reviewed the impact of teenage pregnancy which included the girls dropping out of school early and therefore unable to progress into further education which can create less opportunity for career advancement and therefore less chance to earn a decent living.
It also highlighted that the tendency for sibings of the teenage mother to also have children when they are young increases and that, in turn, their children are also far more likely to have children when they are also adolescents. Children born to teenage parents, especially mothers, were far less likely to study hard and would likely struggle at school, resulting in many turning to crime and potentially ending up in prison, the report noted.
The likelihood of the teenage mother failing pregnant again within two years was around 25%, while many babies had unfortunately died before their first birthday. Finally, the risk of suicide was high among teenage pregnancies and mothers, the report stated.
In response to these findings a draft strategy was unveiled recommending steps to help prevent unwanted teenage pregnancies in the province between 2022-2026.
Unsurprinsingly, this centred around better education and access to contraceptives and birth control for teenagers. Similarly, it called for ongoing educational drives where updated information and services are publicised and made easily accessible.
The draft also called for general improvements in the public health service at district and sub-district levels when dealing with adolescent pregnancies and proposed a coherent support system is introduced and made widely available.
The points suggested in the draft would be in addition to the Adolescent Pregnancy Prevention and Solution Act 2016 and it was proposed a working group be created to help monitor progress.