21 May 1998 Forty percent of recorded births in the Brong Ahafo region of Ghana last year were by teenage mothers. The Regional Director of Health Services Dr. Kofi Asare, who said this at the regional celebration of women’s week stressed that it is therefore very important to encourage girls in the region to stay in school to achieve higher academic laurels as a measure to delay early child bearing. Dr Asare expressed concern about the high incidence of illegal abortions among teenagers and said this would also affect their health and impede on the future well being of their families. He said the region recorded 58.4 per cent births in the hospitals and called on expectant mothers to visit trained traditional birth attendants and midwifery institutions scattered throughout the region. Ante natal clinic attendance for the region was as high as 91.7 per cent last year while postnatal attendance stood at a low 32 per cent. However only 28.1 per cent of the region’s population adopted family planning methods in the region, which has a 5.8 percent fertility rate.
