Fatimah (second row, seventh left) together with OSTPC members who have just received their letters of appointment.
KUCHING: The One Stop Teenage Pregnancy Committee (OSTPC) plans on establishing a special institution called the Suria Centre to place pregnant teens who need shelter and rehabilitation.
Women, Welfare and Family Development Minister Datuk Fatimah Abdullah said that this is done partly to reduce the number of baby abandonments and the alarmingly high number of teen pregnancies in Sarawak.
“What we are clear on is there is a need to establish a centre for pregnant teens. This is where they can stay while pregnant so they can access all sorts of services until they give birth,” she said when speaking to reporters after chairing a state-level OSTPC meeting at Wisma Bapa Malaysia yesterday.
The committee has visited similar places such as Generasiku Sayang in Johor and Rumah Harapan in Melacca to get an idea of how they can improve.
Fatimah also presented appointment letters to 59 committee members from Kuching, Samarahan and Sri Aman.
Out of that figure, 18 are from the state committee, 17 from Kuching division, 13 from Samarahan Division and 11 from Sri Aman Division. The members come from various relevant agencies and non-governmental organisations (NGO).
Fatimah added that Suria Centre will offer teen mums-to-be shelter and health care, guidance, rehabilitation, reference and monitoring after they are discharged.
“We don’t want pregnant teens to hide and then dump the baby after giving birth. We want them to come forward, whether they are married or not. It is very important for us that both baby and mother are safe.”
They also want to put an end to cases of teen mothers getting pregnant again while under the age of 19.
“There are repeat cases, meaning they get pregnant again while underage,” Fatimah said, adding that teen mums between 15 and 17 years old make up 7.7 per cent of repeat cases while those age 18-19 make up 20.9 per cent.
“There is a possibility that the teen mum was married according to longhouse customs; I want them to finish schooling if they are already in school, or space out the pregnancy so that the body can recover from the previous one.
“This is a very basic reason why Sarawak needs OSTPC – to stop repeat cases,” she said, adding that they still need to gather more data on this particular aspect.
OSTPC was set up to address the alarmingly high number of teen pregnancies in Sarawak. While other states recorded between 100 and 200 cases, the figures are as high as 3,000 to 4,000 in Sarawak.
There was a slight decrease this year of 7.6 per cent (3,041) cases between January and October, compared to last year’s 8.4 per cent.
Kapit recorded the highest number of pregnant teens this year at 15.4 per cent, followed by Betong at 10.1 per cent.
There are also issues such as health risks for both mother and baby, especially if the mother only turns up during an advanced stage of pregnancy and runs into complications then.
Young mothers between 10 to 14 years old will have a different set of risks as compared to those aged between 15 and 17.
“On the issue of education, 95 per cent stopped schooling and 37 per cent do not marry. The 15 to 17 year-olds should be in school but they are not. If they come from poor families, the vicious cycle of poverty will be repeated. Without education, what is the chance of getting a good job? Who is going to feed the baby?” Fatimah said.
OSTPC has so far been set up in 11 districts – Kuching, Samarahan, Sri Aman, Betong, Sibu, Mukah, Sarikei, Kapit, Bintulu, Miri and Limbang. One is expected to be set up in Serian District before the end of the year.