An average of 700 teenage girls are impregnanted each year in The Bahamas with about 20 percent of them eventually becoming pregnant again while still in their teens, according to PACE Foundation President Sonia Brown.<\/p>\n
\u201cOver the past 10 years, there has been a two percent drop in teen pregnancies,\u201d Brown said.<\/p>\n
\u201cBut the numbers are too high for anybody to feel happy about it because we are still talking about 600 to 700 persons who are under 19 having children and that\u2019s too much.<\/p>\n
\u201cThey are ill equipped too most of the time. When they enter the job market, they need assistance in terms of helping take care of their baby. Sometimes they are also ill equipped mentally in terms of, they don\u2019t have the maturity level to be parents because they are just kids themselves.\u201d<\/p>\n
Brown said PACE enrolls about 100 to 150 pregnant teens per year. The program provides education and support to teen mothers and promotes awareness of policies to help reduce teen pregnancy among young adults.<\/p>\n
Brown said the youngest girl she\u2019s seen pregnant was just nine years old.<\/p>\n
\u201cThat is not a common occurrence; it\u2019s more of an anomaly,\u201d she added.<\/p>\n
\u201cThe average age is closer to 14, 15 when the girls get pregnant.\u201d<\/p>\n
The program will hold a fundraising ball at Sandals Resort tonight to raise money to help with the students\u2019 education.<\/p>\n
The event, which is the biggest fundraising of the year for PACE, has helped the program tremendously in the past, Brown said.<\/p>\n