Mental health impact on teenage mothers

0:00 this week is a pregnancy awareness week and South Africa is seeing an alarming hike in the number of underage pregnancies this is despite a global decline in pregnancies in the age group from 15 to 19 years old the South African society of psychiatrists has emphasized the critical mental health impact on teenage mothers saying this vulnerable demographic faces multifaceted challenges we now speak to Dr ronell Williams of the South African society of psychiatrist Dr Williams a pleasure to have you on the program this afternoon as a representative of the society for psychiatrist could you provide insights into the psychological impact of teen pregnancies particularly concerning mental health challenges which are faced by Young

0:47 mothers Dr Williams can you hear us clearly can hear you yes can you hear me loud and clear you can go ahead okay um like I was saying it's quite a challenging uh group in our uh Society teenagers at large already and if you add an unplanned pregnancy at such a young age they obviously experience heightened levels of stress the social stigma that they exposed to and suddenly they are having to move into Parenthood at such a young age so we know that a lot of these teenage mothers can experience a low mood even depression anxiety and a small percentage post-traumatic stress disorder this is just looking at at the mother we also have to look at the baby and the impact

1:33 on the baby at a later stage so as mentioned in my intro U there is a concerning surge in teenage pregnancies in in South Africa with socioeconomic difficulties and inadequate sex education cited as contributing factors here how can comprehensive sex education and improved access to contraception help address some of these issues well um it's difficult to believe that in our country there's still areas where some of our teachers are teenagers are not exposed to you know proper sexual education but if they are educated as to what the implications are what the consequences are not just to them as teenage mothers but the long-term implications you know the consequences to yeah the educational

2:20 level the job opportunities because a lot of our teenage mothers leave schools early and that obviously has an impact on the educational level which in turn has a reduced level of status in their society so what we're wanting to do is educate very early and not just educate our teenagers but as well as our adults the parents of these teenagers the teachers the medical personnel so that when they are faced with these teenagers looking for answers or looking um to for options when they do fall into the Trap of an early pregnancy that they know what their options are and that they there is access to a contraception available at any point let's speak about

3:05 the impact on children themselves or children born to teen mothers because one would only imagined that often times they wouldn't be as prepared as an as an adult to an older person what's the impact of it on on the children themselves well we do know that um you know even in South Africa a large number of our mothers in the postpartum period That's often delivery have high risk of mental health problems and this is even higher in our teenagers who fall pregnant up to 50% higher than the adult for example and the impact of that could be that they're more anxious they're more depressed which has an impact on their ability to take care of the the newborn and be able to attach and form a

3:51 bond with them we've seen that a lot of this has developed mental challenges that didn't develop in our uh younger children which can last into later adulthood so they in turn could develop some mental health problems themselves so an expert mentions the stigma and also the societal pressures faced by pregnant teens which can be further exacerbated or or further exacerbate mental health issues how can communities and and support networks better assist young mothers in really overcoming these challenges and accessing Mental Health Care yes and what we want to do is you know make everyone aware that this is not just the teenage mother's problem you know uh this is the problem of the

4:39 family The CORE family and the society at large so everybody needs to equips with the information and not be judgmental and reject them from their communities because that is what happens you know everybody looks down on uh teenage mothers before pregnant you know various reasons but wanting everybody in the communities to be able to be supportive and guide them as to what are the possible um options available to them and as well as early identification of mental health problems can then um remedy later problems either in the mother or in the baby so one report also underscores the importance of recognizing and indeed addressing mental health concerns in

5:26 pregnant teens could you elaborate on the specific interven ions or support mechanisms that are available to assist young mothers in really managing their mental well-being during and after the pregnancy yes so it all starts with the antinal care that is provided and that's provided at government level as well but we know that some of our teenagers you know they're afraid to say that they're pregnant or Fallen pregnant so they tend to neglect this this is where it starts because a lot of the anti-natal Care is also having to look at not just the phys physical health of the mother but the mental health of the mother during pregnancy if we support and identify for example depression in pregnancy we can reduce the occurrence of postpartum

6:11 depression and then the implications on the baby so basically we're looking at anti-natal um support groups so that's for mothers as well as for young mothers and it's not just for teenagers for all mothers that's available and uh some of them are even available online because we know that not everybody can access them you know due to transport or finances so there are quite a few of those available in order to support them throughout the um the pregnancy itself difficulties and challenges and then of course social um work interventions if it's needed especially when there's rejection from family or financial challenges but we also urge our um you know medical practitioners nursing staff

6:57 GPS at you know Primary Care level to not just look at the physical health of the pregnant teen or mother because a lot of those symptoms can present and look like it's just the hormonal changes when in fact mental health symptoms that they could be presenting with as well I want you to help us crystallize this point that you've just made the postpartum period is highlighted as a as a critical time for mental health support with one in three women in South Africa experiencing mental health symptoms how can Healthcare Systems better integr at Mental Health Care into maternal Health Services to support young mothers effectively I think it it starts with us as uh healthcare workers as well you know working as a team and not as

7:43 independent uh Specialists or practitioners um so identifying the gynecologists and the Opticians we work quite closely with them if they identify our highrisk mothers who during pregnancy already has a past history of mental health problems or are identifying with new symptoms during the pregnancy and then also making sure that they have the support and the followup during that highrisk period postpartum is quite a difficult time a lot of people mothers are told it's just the baby blues or it'll get it'll pass but what we wanting to make sure is that we don't miss those that are actually struggling with postpartum depression or other postpartum mental health problems so we're wanting to work as a team and

8:29 equip our mothers and our families which is the big support system which is you know lacking in some of our teenagers because they get rejected or ostracized um and making sure that they have a support system in place whether that is a group of other young mothers who have their support groups or looking at um Healthcare professionals so one expert also mentions the importance of early anti-natal care attendance for uh pregnant women how can healthc care providers and community organizations then encourage pregnant teens to seek timely anti-al care and also considering potential barriers such as stigma and also the fear of judgment yes and that is the main reasons why our uh teenagers don't always um you know attend the antenatal

9:16 care so what we're wanting to do is make sure that there is more empathy and support and resources available and we know that not all our clinics has all the resources they do the best they can with what they have to educate our teenagers that this is not just about the health and the pregnancy itself but it's also the subsequent mental health for them their baby and the long-term implications which it can have if they seek help early and if you identify any of these uh problems early in the stages it has less of a a negative impact later on Dr Williams as we wrap up our conversation and also give given the rights of pregnant women to choose their

10:01 Companions and be treated with respect and dignity how can Healthcare facilities and providers ensure that pregnant teenagers feel empowered to really advocate for their own needs and preferences during the child pregnancy and and child birth as well yeah we we this is an important one because you know women in general we know never feel that they're able to speak up in certain situations but we're needing to empower or women irrespective of age our teenagers if they equipped with the proper um information and know what their rights are and what their um options are they are more able to feel confident in asking what they they needing at in that moment and not just expecting that the you know family at

10:48 large or the healthcare professionals be telling them what they need so in preparation for this interview one online article reads or stress the the importance of birth preparedness and complication Readiness for pregnant women how can education and awareness campaigns specifically tailored to teen mothers help them better understand their rights and also their responsibilities during pregnancy and child birth yeah um and the importance here is that we know that um you know teenagers obviously for various reasons can have more complicated pregnancies on their own but our patients with mental health problems are known to have more compc ated pregnancy so early deliveries still births uh as well as low birth um babies

11:35 that are born so we wanting to for them to know that if they go for internatal care and early um intervention we can avoid all of that to equip them with the information and make sure that they get to that um early intervention antinal care either support all of that in order to avoid any complications later so Dr Williams could you share examples of successful community-based interventions or even programs that are aimed at supporting pregnant teens and promoting their mental health and also their well-being what we do uh recommend is obviously you know person that you know with is your general practitioner and then we have a society South African depression and anxiety Group sedc which

12:22 you can contact telephonically or send an SMS and a counselor will get back to you it's all confidential and what they'll be able to do is divert you to a counselor or anything like that and all of our um community health clinics have antinal care available to any pregnant mother even teenage mothers and they have either at the site anti-natal um support groups available or resources to direct you to the online ones and you know obviously not all of them go but social media is something that teenagers are are very um you know aware of and they can get around that so there's a lot of social media like Facebook and um you know um Instagram and obviously

13:09 teenagers are using Tik Tok at the moment which give information we're always just wary as to you know correct information going out there but there's links to online support groups for mothers that's available there and they registered you know so there's good support being provided and we find that if they have peerto peer so young mothers talking to other young mothers or pregnant mothers they are feeling more supported and understood as opposed to always just going to a healthcare professional because they feel like they're talking to somebody who's experiencing the same kind of that they going through Dr Rell Williams from the South African society of psychiatrists giving us her perspective would really like to extend our appreciation for shedding light on this alarming rise in teenage pregnancies during pregnancy

13:56 Awareness Week