High incidence of teenage pregnancies in Region 8 alarming

By Philippine Information Agency (PIA 8)
July 12, 2006

TACLOBAN CITY, Leyte – Eastern Visayas has the second highest percentage of teenage pregnancies. About 8% of female teenagers in the Region have been pregnant. By age 17, seven percent haven been pregnant; by age 18, eleven point nine percent have been pregnant; and by age 19, twenty-three point five percent have been pregnant and majority of these pregnancies are out-of-wedlock.

These are some of the alarming statistics which the Young Adult Fertility and Sexuality Survey results revealed. The survey was conducted in 2002 when the Sexual Maturity was age 15, the Sexual Maturity at present, the survey revealed is age 12. This means that young girls become mature earlier nowadays than it was four years ago.

One of the reasons for the increase in teenage pregnancies is the prevalence of live-in arrangements among young people. The survey revealed 78.6% of never-married teenagers have lived-in while 5.1% of teenagers aged 15-19 years old, are currently living in.

Another reason given for the increase in teenage pregnancies is that the percentage of female teenagers who have had pre-marital sex increased from 4% in 1994 to 6.1% in 2002.

YAFSS claimed the third reason is the low contraceptive use among sexually active female teenagers. Only 17.6% use contraceptives during the last time they had sex.

Another terrifying fact is that teenage mothers are more likely to experience pregnancy-related problems than older women. Worse, the teenage mother’s health also affects the health and survival of her baby.

Teenage pregnancies have social consequences like reduced chances of attaining higher education for young females, jeopardized chances for better employment opportunities, cause early school drop-out among young women, extended financial dependence of young females on their families and possible inability to tackle responsibilities of motherhood due to lack of emotional and psychological maturity.

In order to address the problem of teenage pregnancies, the YAFSS Survey recommended that there is a need to provide medically accurate sexuality education and information in schools and in media and to encourage policy makers to acknowledge the linkage between expectations for education and employment and sexual risk-taking and pregnancy decision-making of adolescents.

There is a need for all the agencies and concerned sectors to look into this problem.