DSWD to give psychosocial support for teenage moms

The Department of Social Welfare and Development (DSWD) said Wednesday it will be providing psychosocial support and other interventions to teenage moms and their partners to guide them in starting their families.

The program is called "ProtecTEEN" which is a social welfare model of intervention made to protect the rights and psychological well-being of adolescent mothers and their families. 

According to DSWD Assistant Secretary Irene Dumalo, the program is also in line with the national priority to prevent and address the rising teenage pregnancies in the country. 

“Nakakaapekto doon sa psychological well-being ng isang indibidwal, lalong lalo na sa isang kabataan, ‘yung maagang pagbubuntis. Nakakaapekto ito doon sa kanilang academic performance, and worse, it might result to them dropping out of school dahil nga gusto nila makaiwas sa embarrassment at dahil sa economic challenges that the family might be facing,” Dumlao said in an interview on Unang Balita.

(Early pregnancy affects the psychological well-being of an individual, especially a teenager. This affects their academic performance, and worse, it might result in them dropping out of school because they want to avoid embarrassment and because of the economic challenges that the family might be facing.) 

“Layunin nito improve ang psychological well-being nung mga kabataan, magkaron ng mga family healing sessions, magkaron ng family case management, mag-intorodce ng mga livelihood or educational assistance sa kanila, at mapagpabuti ang kanilang kapasidad bilang mga maagang mga magulang,” added Dumlao.

(This aims to improve the psychological well-being of young parents. We will have family healing sessions, have family case management, introduce livelihood or educational assistance to them, and improve their capacity as young parents.) 

The initiative of DSWD seeks to serve adolescent mothers aged 10 to 19, including their partners, parents, children, and other household members.

Citing data by the Philippine Statistics Authority (PSA), the Commission on Population and Development (CPD) earlier reported that the total number of live births by adolescent mothers (aged 19 and below) rose 10.15% from 136,302 in 2021 to 150,138 in 2022.

The number of live births from pregnancies among girls aged 14 and below also surged by 35.13% from 2,320 in 2021 to 3,135 in 2022.

With this, the CPD reminded parents to be their children’s first sexuality educators. The commission said that parents could start by teaching their kids to distinguish a bad touch from a good touch, and by calling sex organs as they are instead of “bird” or “flower.”

The CPD also called for the passage of the Adolescent Pregnancy Prevention Act, which provides for a national policy to prevent adolescent pregnancies and institutionalize social protection for adolescent parents. —Giselle Ombay/ VAL, GMA Integrated News