Stair of Progression

by Lizelle Jhade Dumallag

Climbing up a stair, your only focus is to finish its series of steps and finally breathing the air of exhaustion and smiling with victory. This is what our life represents, a stair of progression, but how can we smile with victory if the focus you’ve been aiming, lose track of the goal you’ve been dreaming because of temporary happiness?

Teens, especially girls are prone to the rapid increase percentage per year where 183,000 cases of teenage pregnancy have been recorded, causing teenagers to lose track of their right path and having been forced to take the responsibility of feeding and making their child live than to reach their lifeyearning dreams.

As the cases of teenage pregnancy records a 504 cases per day, ages ranging from 10 to 14 years old, accumulating a 100,000-183,000 of tragic cases per year. There are indicated services based on the Republic Act by Sen. Riza Hontiveros, Prevention of Adolescence Pregnancy, S. No. 161:

(1) Mental Health Services. There are some instances that cause the young mothers to have a mental breakdown like Postpartum disease, which is a common damage to every mother, and this is more vulnerable to young mothers as they will experience trauma from taking care and the duties a mother could provide for her child. According to Dr. Cely Magpantay, a psychologist, teen moms are new to motherhood environment, because at a young age they have been tasked and forced to provide the best living experience to their child. That is why they should also be the best fit mother and that includes their mental health stability. To be responsible emotionally and mentally for their child to have a best living experience.

(2) Pre-Natal Services. We all know that teen mothers don’t have the capability to provide for the basic, like basic necessities a baby should use once he cries and be heard by doctors and health workers. A service diaper, milk that the government wish to to provide to teen mothers for their natal. And as prenatal, the monthly check-ups that are free to each barangays, monitored by barangay midwives. This is a good government service for teen mothers to monitor their health as well as their child inside their womb. They also give free vitamins for them to take and proper dietary plan for hormonce balance.

These effects have caused families to lose saving money, as giving birth has been hard, it will also effect the financial capability of the family. Twenty-seven to 47 billion per year on the family incomen, and 1/3 of their savings have been lost due to the teenage pregnancy, according to Juan Antonio Perez III, POPCOM spokesperson.

It’s a tragic news to everybody, and making things worse than you thought is like making your life at stake of poverty. A 16-year old girl with a confidential name “Nene”, whose child is a 10-month old boy has proven that it’s hard to experience early pregnancy, especially while studying.

In life, it is a stair of progression, but when you decided to try and be eaten by temptations, that progression will crumble and the stair will lose its next step on