As the country faces a declining birthrate, acting Senior Medical Officer at VJH, Dr Clayon Kelly, is advocating for young, healthy Jamaicans to consider having more children. Dr Kelly emphasised the importance of early family planning, citing the increased risks associated with childbirth at an older age. With Jamaica's birthrates consistently decreasing, he called on the Government to provide incentives to support young families and encourage population growth.

New Year surprise!

Expectant mom anticipates exciting fireworks show, delivers baby instead

Jamaica Gleaner/2 Jan 2024/Sashana Small/Staff Reporter 

VJH official urges more young, healthy Jamaicans to have children

SHANICE SUDLOW was in downtown Kingston on New Year’s Eve with her three sons waiting to watch the fireworks that light up the sky annually to welcome the new year.

However, the heavily pregnant 29-year-old’s anticipation for the main event was disrupted when she started to feel contractions.

“From mi reach down there (downtown), pain. Mi just neva did a expect seh she wudda come at that time,” Sudlow later told The Gleaner.

She explained that she was expected to give birth on January 10, 2024. But her daughter, who has been given the name Serkia Green, wanted to see the world earlier.

Born at 12:41 a.m., Serkia was the first recorded birth for 2024 at the Victoria Jubilee Hospital (VJH).

Sudlow said her new baby’s name was chosen by her 10-yearold and eldest son. who always wanted a baby sister.

“Him seh ‘Mommy, if it’s a girl, you’re going to name her Serkia’,” she shared, adding that, when she learned of the gender of her baby, she gladly obliged.

As is customary for this occasion, the Ferry District, St Andrew resident was showered with gifts. This year, representatives from Kirk Distributors were the first to bring the beaming mother presents.

However, even as she basked in the attention, Sudlow reminisced on what she described as her most painful birth yet.

“Mi in labour for about two hours. The pain was unbearable, mi feel more pain dan di usual,” she said. It was her faith, she said, that carried her through the birth of her first daughter.

Sudlow said she is just happy for a healthy baby that weighed 3.48 kg. Currently unemployed, she said she worked previously as a wholesale clerk. Her partner, who operates tractors, is the main breadwinner for the family.

Sudlow, however, has big aspirations for her fourth child, who she says will be her last.

“Mi want she achieve a lot, just like how mi would want the rest to achieve a lot same way, go all out,” she said.

Meanwhile, lamenting the country’s falling birthrate, Acting Senior Medical Officer at the VJH Dr Clayon Kelly is encouraging young, healthy Jamaicans to have more children this year.

“You need persons who are healthy to have kids, and that’s what’s [not] happening. A lot of the healthy persons, fertile people, are not having kids,” Kelly said.

RISKS INCREASE WITH AGE

He explained that, while people may delay having children until later in life, this may not be the best decision, as the risks associated with childbirth increase as one ages.

“After 35 … you’re more likely to have chronic disease like diabetes, hypertension … and, of course, with that comes the risk of problems during pregnancy, delivery,” he said.

He said the birthrates at VJH, which were upwards of 10,000 in previous years, have been consistently trending down. Last year, 6,700 births were recorded at this, the largest referral maternity hospital in the English-speaking Caribbean.

The 2022 Economic and Social Survey Jamaica revealed a decline in the island’s general fertility rate (GFR), and its crude birth rate.

Jamaica’s GFR decreased from 44.7 in 2020, to 41.2 in 2022. The crude birth rate dropped from 12.4 in 2020 to 11.4 in 2022.

Kelly said the implications of this falling birthrate are even more significant when contrasted with the country’s aging population.

He urged the government to provide incentives to encourage people to have children.

“It’s important for people to feel as if they are supported - the availability of work, of good paying jobs … because, if you are unable to support yourself, then you’re not going to want to have kids,” he said. “It requires a lot of cooperation, working together.”

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