The two mothers arrived together at the reproductive health medical mission in an urban poor community in Manila, each carrying a baby in their arms.
The older woman is Rowena Narce, 31, carrying her four-month-old baby, her youngest. The younger mother is her eldest daughter, Rosemarie, 16, who brought her three-week-old newborn for a check up.
Rosemarie was only 15 and in junior high school when she got pregnant by her boyfriend who is two years older than her. “I knew I could get pregnant but I didn’t know anything about family planning,” she confessed.
As soon as she found out she was pregnant she stopped going to school. “She just didn’t want to go to school anymore. And then we learned about her pregnancy. I couldn’t do anything but to accept the fact that my daughter is going through the same fate as mine,” her mother recalled.
Rowena is referring to her own experience as a teen mother. She got pregnant at the age of 14. “It was very difficult for me because I was so young then. I was not able to finish my studies because I had a family to take care of.”
The mother said Rosemarie is also having a hard time with her newborn. A lot of times, the young mother doesn’t know what to do especially when her baby cries uncontrollably. “I told her she shouldn’t have another baby so soon so I brought her here to avail of family planning services,” Rowena said.
Family planning, along with reproductive health information sessions and maternal and newborn care, are among the services provided by UNFPA and its partners during the medical mission in Baseco, an urban poor community in Manila which was affected by floods just a few days earlier.
Rosemarie availed of the contraceptive implant, which has a three-year effect. The method is just being introduced in the Philippines but is already gaining high acceptance from family planning users.
“I don’t want to have another baby anytime soon. I want to go back to school next year. I still want to pursue my studies so I can give my child a better life,” Rosemarie said before she entered the clinic for the implant procedure.
