Abandoning of babies increase in Kwesimintsim

Five new born babies are reported to have been abandoned within a period of three months in Kwesimintsim, a suburb of Takoradi in the Western Region.

Mrs. Deborah Daisy Kwabia, Metropolitan Director of Social Welfare (SW), said the incident occurred between July and September this year and currently, two of the surviving babies are in the custody of the Department.

She disclosed this on Friday in Takoradi at a durbar organised by the Sekondi-Takoradi Metropolitan Assembly (STMA), in collaboration with other stakeholders, to sensitise the public on good parenting and prevention of teenage pregnancies and abandonment of babies.

Mrs. Kwabia revealed that her outfit had selected seven communities in the Metropolis that are socially prone to child abandonment, to educate them and help curb such inhuman practices.

Mrs. Benedicta Seidu, Western Regional Girls Education Coordinator, urged parents to be more responsible and instill discipline in their children to desist from engaging in pre-marital sex, which could result in unwanted pregnancies and child abandonment.

She appealed to parents to discourage intimate relationships between opposite sexes amongst children and avoid neglecting pregnant girls.

Mrs. Faustina Yorke Awotwe, Western Regional Director of the Department of Children, indicated that the Region ranked second in the percentage of teenage pregnancies as reported by the Multiple Indicator Cluster Survey of Ghana, (2011).

She added that her outfit had since begun a campaign to educate the public and curtail the situation.