THE Women’s Centre of Jamaica Foundation (WCJF), has, over the years, managed to maintain a two per cent rate for second pregnancies among teenagers who attend the centre.

This was disclosed by Beverly Martin-Berry, director of field operations at the foundation which has the mandate to provide continuing education for girls 17 years and under who drop out of school due to pregnancy.

“We have a shift in the parental mindset in terms of contraceptives,” she told the Jamaica Observer. “So we have parents more willing and readily accept that, okay, I’m going to take up this recommendation at getting my adolescent girl on a contraceptive method.

“Also, the acceptance of a long-term method, modern-day contraceptive is more accepted. So you won’t be able to throw away the contraceptive that is implanted in the arm for five years, in comparison to the oral contraceptive,” Martin-Berry said.

She shared this information at the WCJF’s lecture ‘Adolescent Pregnancy: Voices of the Offspring’, last Friday, where one of the panellists, Shawna Jackson, recounted how her mother became pregnant again after her grandmother threw out the contraceptive pills that she had been using.

The lecture, held at The University of the West Indies (UWI), Mona main library last week, was organised for people to hear the experiences of individuals who were raised by teenage parents.

“One of the things that we recognise, not only the narrative when you look at the research paper, is the focus is on the adolescent mother, the focus is on teenage pregnancy. No one has ever really thrown the focus on the child. Nobody really asks the offspring what was it like to grow up with an adolescent parent? What was it like to grow up under the wings of someone who would still be in what we call the ‘identity crisis’ stage of development?” Martin-Berry pointed out.

“We’ve never heard their voices. We’ve never heard about their challenges and how it was growing up, and what would have made them who they are. And so we think it fitting to create the platform for them to speak,“ she said.

From the experiences shared, Martin-Berry said she hopes that individuals realise “the fact that adolescent parents can do well.

“Adolescent parents do have the ability to do effective parenting. Offspring of adolescent parents are highly likely to be successful. Also, the work that the women’s centre is doing and the impact it is making, not just on the adolescent mother, but the offspring,” she said.

“The offspring spoke about the chain impact. So, my mom learnt to be resilient. My mom was empowered through the women’s centre and she empowered me, and I learned my level of resilience from her and I am going to teach my child,” she continued.

The women’s centre has grown from one office in 1978 when it was founded, to 18 offices across Jamaica. Martin-Berry said this is an indication that more teens are utilising the services of the centre.

Another significant achievement of the centre, she mentioned, is the reintegrating of more girls into school system.

“The reintegration policy, which was accepted and passed and enacted in 2014, created what I called an easy pathway for the girls to be reintegrated back into the formal school system. So we have what I call now a formal relationship as it relates to reintegration.

“So reintegration goes through the regional offices where the guidance and counselling unit at the regional offices will now take on the role of placing the girls, and that has been excellent,” she said. “The Ministry of Education, I must give them thumbs up for that support that we got through the policy, and also through the work of the regional offices’ guidance and counselling unit.”