the voice of young moms

Young moms are strong girls transformed to grow into women at a time they had not prepared themselves in and although they have so much strength, they still need empowerment. YOUNG MOMS EC has been and still is giving as much information on how these moms can obtain this strength to cope with their babies, born or unborn. This blog, however, does not encourage teenage pregnancy and for young girls to fall pregnant at a young age, but focuses on those who already find themselves in this situation.

As a result of this, I feel that I have a great deal of responsibility to warn those who are at the risk of falling pregnant at such age. With the rise of teenage pregnancy and abortion in S.A and especially in the Eastern Cape province, this seems to be an action that needs to be done.

I had interviewed my cousin sister as a case study to show how difficult it can be to fall pregnant at such a young age.

Sivuyisiwe 'Sivu' Mqikela, 24, mother of 2

At just 18 years of age, Sivuyiswe of Mdantsane, East london was doing Grade 10 and pregnant with her first daughter, Linathi Mqikela and that was 2008. The following year she got pregnant with a boy Simthandile 'Boy' Mqikela. Both her children are currently attending school but this is not the case for her.

Sivu is now a full- time mom and says falling pregnant two times had not been her intention and that it took away her dreams of being a chef.

"Since I got pregnant I never was able to go back to school as there was no one to take care of my 2 babies, my mom was too disappointed in me she almost lost hope.''

With both her kids attending school, she has now applied to study at BCC college to further her studies and complete her matric for the year 2015.

As her cousin sister, I am proud that even after such a long time not having to go to school, she has shown great courage and responsibility to never forget about her dreams and that she knows that one is  never too old for education.

Sivuyisiwe with her son 'Boy ' at Eastern Beach

Linathi in her school uniform going to her first class in First Grade

To write this post I was inspired by the strong Kutlwano Moepeng featured on an article 'teen mom cautions her peers' by Omphetse Molopyane of The New Age. In the article Kutlwano tries and warns other pupils like her of the trials and tribulations of being a mom at and a scholar at the same time.

FACT! baby fathers show symptoms too!

At my first trimester, I used to like eating fried fish a lot and now I don't have that anymore as my symptoms. The only early-pregnancy symptom I still have is craving on potato chips. My partner on the other hand usually did not like fried fish until I introduced him to it. I say 'did not' because now it's all that he thinks of when we pass by our usual restaurant.

This might surprise a lot of people but it is a fact, a weird one indeed, your baby father might be experiencing pregnancy symptoms too, some of which you might be familiar with because you also experienced them or you still do.This is called sympathetic pregnancy or Couvade syndrome; your partner might respond to your pregnancy in a manner that he will feel what you feel .

REALITY CHECK, who's pregnant here?

These are the most common symptoms of Couvade syndrome:

• nausea and heartburn-If you are pregnant you might have experienced this symptom, but what about your partner? He might be going through the same. At times he will have an irritable stomach, he might not like the foods you know of him most or he might feel like he wants to puke now and then. Remember you also felt the same way in your early stages of your pregnancy? There are also chances that you both experience this the same time.

• abdominal pain-There is no scientific explanation for this and any other symptom mentioned here, your partner might feel cramps around the lower parts of the stomach as you might have or at the same time you experience these pains.

• appetite changes- It is normal for your partner to experience this also, he might not like his usual favorite meals or he might have cravings right in the middle of the night.

• weight gain- There are chances that your partner might gain a few kg's from all the food you have been feeding him. Although he might not like some type of food that you like, he might have agreed on eating with you because it wouldn't be so nice of him if he hadn't.

• change in sleeping patterns- Your partner might be sleeping more than usual, he might even feel tired most of the time and this should make things easy for both of you as you might also like to take a nap as well.

• anxiety- Stressing about labor and the budget and 'everything pregnancy' might be normal for your partner, he might be concerned as much as you are and this can lead to seriousness, you both need to talk around to other expectant parents as well as parents who already have children to prepare yourselves.

"Now that I'm six months pregnant, my husband insists on sleeping like me. He says he wants to get the full pregnancy experience. It's not unusual to find him napping with my pillow between his knees and a heating pad on his back." --Stephanie, Lorain, OH

SCARY BUT ESSENTIAL INFO! : maternal deaths, HIV and young momies

 A report made by the Amnesty International; 'Struggle for Maternal Health: Barriers to antenatal care in South Africa' revealed that:

There were 1 560 recorded deaths in 2011 and 1 426 in 2012,1 500 women die every year during childbirth

The report says :40 percent of the deaths are linked to HIV. 

Sounds scary?

According to Sharon Dell of University World News,  a study by the Higher Education HIV and Aids Programme (HEAids) on HIV prevalence and knowledge, attitude, behavior and practice revealed that Eastern Cape had a high proportion (6.4%) of university students found HIV positive and female students were found to be three times more likely to contract HIV than males, despite the fact that it was more acceptable for males to have multiple partners.

image courtesy of: http://content.presentermedia.com/files/clipart/00003000/3961/scary_skull_bones_md_wm.jpg

Maternal Death is when a woman dies during pregnancy or labor, the main causes of maternal death are:

•  Non-pregnancy-related infections, mostly HIV
• Obstetric Haemorrhage- excessive bleeding during pregnancy, labor or after childbirth
• Hypertension also known as High Blood Pressure

YOU ASK: How is this all related to me and why should I know about it?

HIV in our country affects the youth more than adult people and because of this and the fact that females have higher chances of contracting HIV than males; young mommies are at most higher risk. 

HIV is one of the main causes of Maternal Death, not only does the life of the mother but of the baby too is in jeopardy. However, if you are HIV positive this does not mean you and your baby will die, of course, there are ways you can prevent this from happening altogether.

MANAGING HIV WHILE PREGNANT
It is important to know your HIV status when pregnant, although it is understood that it is your choice to test or not to test for HIV, you need to do so for your baby's sake.This will allow you to get ARV treatment not only for you but to prevent the virus from being transmitted to your baby. This should be done very early during pregnancy.

BREAST FEEDING AND HIV
Breast feeding should be avoided by pregnant women who are HIV, alternatively, formula feeding should be used.Athough breast feeding is much ecouraged for the development of your baby,you are required to feed your baby nothing else during the first 6 months. Going for CD4 count screening at your usual antenatal clinic should help you manage your pregnancy and your level of HIV in your body. A week after birth, you are required to bring your baby to your clinic to be monitored.


HIV positive or not, it is vital to go for your antenatal appointments just to be sure that everything is under control.