To prevent health problems, maternal and infant mortality, as well as unhealthy growth of children, it is necessary to educate women who are married young to maintain the health of their reproductive organs.
By
KOMPAS TEAM
·4 minutes read
Kompas/Heru Sri Kumoro
The mural contains a message to avoid early marriage and to pursue more achievements and work on Jalan Bekasi Timur Raya, North Jakarta, Thursday (20/2/2020).
JAKARTA, KOMPAS -- Child marriage threatens the growth of children, especially the reproductive health and lives of girls. Pregnancy poses a risk not only to the girls but also to their offspring.
In the long term, the high incidence of child marriage threatens the quality of human resources. The reason is that the number of infants born to young mothers is closely related to the high rate of tengkes (stunting) in Indonesia.
"The impact of pregnancy at an early age girl can be quite large. Girls aged 15 years are not yet mature, so the quality of their ovum is poor.,” said the head of the National Population and Family Planning Agency (BKKBN) Hasto Wardoyo in Jakarta, on Monday (19/4/2021).
The impact of pregnancy at an early age girl can be quite large.
According to the 2017 Indonesian Basic Health Survey, 59 percent of girls and 74 percent of boys in Indonesia have sex for the first time at the age of 15-19 years.
"The thing we should worry more about is the fact that people are having sex at a younger age. The disadvantage of this condition is the high incidence of cervical cancer, the second most common disease after breast cancer,” he said. In the long term, the pregnant girl is at risk of stopping bone growth. Apart from not reaching optimal height, pregnant young girls also cannot reach peak bone mass, which triggers osteoporosis.
"The nutritional needs to support growth [of young mothers] are taken by the children they are carrying," said Hasto. Child marriage has a psychological impact. In addition to lower welfare, the child brides are vulnerable to domestic violence (KDRT). Data show that 50 percent of married girls under the age of 18 are more at risk of experiencing domestic violence. In addition, incidence of depression, anxiety and suicidal thoughts are higher.
Eugenius Phyowai Ganap from the Department of Obstetrics and Gynecology, School of Medicine, Public Health and Nursing, Gadjah Mada University, emphasized that reproductive health was important to guarantee the health of women at reproductive age so that they can give birth to healthy children and reduce the maternal mortality (MMR).
The results of the 2015 Inter-Census Population Survey (Supas) show that Indonesia\'s MMR is high at 305 per 100,000 live births. To reduce MMR, the concept of family planning related to pregnancy and childbirth is introduced by preventing the "4 Terlalu (4 Extreme)", namely not being too young, not too old, not too frequent and not too much.
Organs are not ready
The healthy reproductive age range for pregnancy and childbirth is 20-35 years. At that time, people are physically and psychologically mature. In contrast, women aged less than 20 years are physically and psychologically immature. The reproductive organs are not ready for pregnancy and breast-feeding.
"There is a part of the cervix that has not closed completely, namely the squamocolumnar junction. This part cannot be exposed from the outside. If this part is exposed to penetration, there is an increased risk of cervical cancer when this girl later grows older more than 35 years old,” said Phyowai.
ANTARA FOTO/Novrian Arbi
A number of female activists and residents participated in the 2018 Women\'s March action in the Dago area, Dago, Bandung, West Java, Sunday (4/3). The action carried out on the occasion of International Women\'s Day every March 8 was carried out to raise awareness against gender-based injustice, end child marriage, and end violence against women.
Physical unpreparedness risks increasing pregnancy problems, for example, preeclampsia or hypertension in pregnancy and bleeding during childbirth. "Bleeding, preeclampsia and infection are the top three causes of maternal death," said Phyowai.
When there is child marriage, children or teenagers often do not have the knowledge of health. When pregnant, children do not know how to maintain a healthy womb.
Because of that, reproductive health education can be started at elementary school about organs, the differences between men and women and the knowledge that other people are not allowed to handle private organs. Further introductions were given at the higher school level regarding anatomy and bodily functions.
To prevent health problems, maternal and infant mortality, as well as unhealthy growth of children, it is necessary to educate women who are married young to maintain the health of their reproductive organs, reduce the risk of pregnancy and birth and ensure the intake of nutritious foods.
