User:Thikameni/Baby dumping in Namibia

Baby Dumping Baby Dumping is a social crisis and it refers to mothers abandoning or discarding a child younger then 12 months in a public or private place with the intent to dispose of it. A lot of women resort to baby dumping as an option for giving birth to unwanted babies. The main reasons for baby dumping will be teenage pregnancies, poverty, and father's denying paternity.Pregnant teenagers experience problems during and after childbirth and often feel neglected and isolated, ashamed to go to school while pregnant or after giving birth, in most cases this leads to illegal abortions or baby dumping because they are not emotionally ready to be parents. Poverty is also another reason that leads to women neglecting and abandoning their babies. Poverty is the inability to satisfy one's basic needs because one lacks income to buy services or from lack of access to services. If mothers live in extreme poverty they think that they wont be able to provide for their child and support it so at times they resort to dumping their baby. Father's denying the paternity of the baby can have a very devastating affect on the mother. The fear of the mother is that of being unable to take care of the child alone, thus resulting to dumping the baby.

Solutions to stop Baby Dumping
Education

To prevent baby dumping it is important to educate individuals about sexuality. Sex education is very important because it teaches individuals how to be resposible.

Responding to Unwanted Pregnancy

Communities should do their best to show and provide support to mothers dealing with unwanted pregnancies. These services must be made public so that affected mothers are aware of the resources available to them.

Communication

Increased communication between community members could minimize the shame and secrecy associated with unwanted pregnancies and make young people more comfortable looking for assistance.