As incredible as it may seem, a 10-year-old girl gave birth to a baby in Spain, and Spanish authorities said that they had never before encountered such a young mother.
The baby was born to the girl in the southern city of Jerez on October 26, 2010. The doctors involved said that the girl and her mother, who accompanied her to the hospital, appeared very calm. The baby weighed 6.4 pounds, and the father was reported to be under-age.
Micaela Navarro, the head of the health services in the region of Andalucia where Jerez is located, said that the important thing is for the mother and baby to receive the proper care.
A local newspaper, the Diario de Sevilla, reported that a caesarean was not performed on the girl.
Doctors warned that pregnancies of this kind have health risks for young girls. “At a young age your bones are not even fully formed. The high level of hormonal activity caused by a pregnancy can provoke problems,” said Dr. Adolfo Lopez Gomez of Seville’s Sagrado Corazon (Sacred Heart) hospital.
In 2008 Andalucia had 177 children born to girls under the age of 14. The case of a ten-year-old giving birth is unheard of.
Another local newspaper, the Diario de Jerez, reported that the doctors involved in this extraordinary case of the young mother said that the baby had been welcomed into the new family, who in turn said that childbirth at a very young age was not uncommon in their native Romania.
Spain will allow marriage at 14 years old, if the judge decides that the circumstances are exceptional.
Frankly, I am pretty surprised that a 10-year-old could actually give birth, and I am appalled by the fact that a such a girl and her underage mate were having sex in the first place. In spite of what the girl’s family may have said about girls having babies at a young age in Romania, it is just unacceptable and rather abhorrent for children to be having sex. Where were the families when this was going on? What kind of care and education were these children receiving? No girl should be a mother at 10. And no culture on earth should be nonchalant and dismissive about children giving birth.
Source: World News The Guardian