A Five Pound Baby Girl Delivered By A 10-Year Old Girl



April 9, 2012: A 10-year old girl became one of the youngest mothers by giving birth to a healthy five pound baby girl by cesarean section in Columbia. According to experts, the C-section delivery for a very young mother is very common.

The girl is reported to arrive at the hospital crying out of labour pain caused by the contractions, according to Univision’s Primer Impacto. An OB/GYN at UH Case Medical Center in Cleveland, Dr. Kimberly Gecsi said, “The baby’s head needs to come through a bony outlet. But in a young girl, the pelvis may not be ready or big enough to deliver a baby.”

A clinical professor of obstetrics and gynecology at NYU Langone Medical Center, Dr. Frederick Gonzalez said that very young mothers are highly prone to preeclampsia (pregnancy-induced high blood pressure). Also, their babies are at high risks for fetal growth restriction. Dr. Gonzalez said, “These girls are not ready to be pregnant. Their bodies are not mature…They may be able to get pregnant, but being able to have a baby is a whole other situation.”

A 10-year old mother belongs to a tribe in Northern Columbia called as Wayuu. This tribe is in Manaure, which is a town in the Columbian Department of La Guajira. As per reports, the age of the father is unknown and the police are unable to charge the Wayuu people as the tribe has its own jurisdiction.

While speaking to RCN La Radio, the director of the hospital where the girl delivered a baby, Efrain Pacheco Casadiego said, “We’ve already seen several cases (related to pregnancy) in girls of the Wayuu ethnicity…When in fact (the girls) should be playing with dolls, they are having to care for a baby. This is shocking.”

According to experts, the girls start ovulating at younger ages and pregnancy is possible to occur after the ovulation begins, even before the menstruation starts. Hence, Dr. Gecsi added saying, “The average age girls in the country start menstruating is about 12 and a half, but that age keeps dropping…Typically, menstruation is the last thing that happens in puberty.”

Therefore, the girls giving birth at very young age are more prone to other biological complications in the long run.