Thailand’s social issues, aside from the trend of becoming an “aging society,” also include another problem related to newborns, which is the lack of quality in newborns. Most newborns are born from pregnancies that are not ready (to have children), and these newborns from unprepared pregnancies are mostly of lower quality.
According to statistics, the number of newborns from unprepared pregnancies is as high as 100,000 cases per year, from teenage and school-age pregnancies. Only about 10,000 mothers who are not ready can access safe abortion services, reflecting that there are still over 90,000 cases that may resort to unsafe abortions or illegal abortions, or may have to continue the pregnancy without being ready to care for the child to be born with quality. This is a major issue in the quality of the new population to be born. Meanwhile, those who are ready and want to have children become the type of people who have difficulty conceiving, want to have children but never do, waiting and waiting, but still not coming.
Today, there is the Prevention and Solution of the Adolescent Pregnancy Act B.E. 2559 (2016) enforced, linking relevant agencies to jointly solve the problem from upstream to downstream. The goal is to allow women with unplanned pregnancies to access alternative counseling services and find solutions on how to continue the pregnancy with quality or, if they choose to terminate the pregnancy, how to do so safely. For example, the Ministry of Education provides sex education and sexual health knowledge to children and adolescents, teaches skills to refuse sexual intercourse, or even safe sex to reduce unplanned pregnancies, or even caring for unprepared pregnant children to continue their education. The Ministry of Labor takes care of teenage mothers in the workforce, the Ministry of Interior takes care of local areas, the Ministry of Public Health provides counseling and abortion services, and the Ministry of Social Development and Human Security takes care of various welfare issues for teenage mothers, etc.
Dr. Sirikiat Liangkobkit, Director of the Office of Health Risk Factor Control Support (Office 2), Health Promotion Fund (HPF), revealed that HPF has helped drive the issuance of the Prevention and Solution of the Adolescent Pregnancy Act B.E. 2559 (2016). HPF also supported the budget for the project to develop a safe and friendly alternative service network for adolescents and women with unplanned pregnancies from October 2018 to September 2020. This project was carried out in collaboration with the Department of Health and the Women’s Unplanned Pregnancy Support Network to strengthen the service network that helps adolescents and women continue their pregnancies, expand safe abortion services comprehensively by developing the potential and strength of the safe abortion referral volunteer network, create public understanding of the rights of adolescents and women with unplanned pregnancies, and manage knowledge to lead to policy development and advocacy. It is a comprehensive solution that provides knowledge and advice, as well as organizes activities to create quality mothers to be aware of their rights and options for pregnancy from adolescence. For safe and friendly services for unplanned pregnancies, there is currently a hotline for unplanned pregnancy options at 1663, a network providing safe abortion services, and a safe abortion referral volunteer network, which currently has 130 volunteer doctors and 348 multidisciplinary volunteer teams providing counseling. If an abortion is needed, they can refer to volunteer doctors in the network located near the unplanned pregnant person for safe service access.
Dr. Panpimol Wipulakorn, Director-General of the Department of Health, stated that from past experiences, it was found that those with unplanned pregnancies, especially students, do not dare to tell anyone. Sometimes they quietly disappear to give birth, and some cannot find a way out and resort to dangerous abortions. The important thing is to help communicate that there are safe alternative services to increase access to services that they can legally receive help from.
The most important thing, above all else, in solving the problem of unplanned pregnancies and unsafe abortions is to avoid premature sexual intercourse, or if having sex, to know how to protect oneself. This will reduce the problem of unplanned pregnancies. However, if a pregnancy does occur, it is necessary to access counseling services and receive safe and friendly care to find the best solution for each unplanned pregnant woman, who has different contexts. Remember well that the happiest family in having children is to have a pregnancy when truly ready.
Story by Panmanee
Source: https://www.naewna.com/local/columnist/38978