Teen pregnancy or what we called adolescent pregnancy
is when a woman under 20 gets pregnant. It usually
refers to teens between the ages of 15=19, but it can
include girls as young as 10.
In the year 2019, The Philippines has recorded a total of 180,916
live births among adolescents aged 10 to 19, according to the data
from the Civil Registration and Vital Statistics System of the
Philippine Statistics Authority.
It is equivalent to 495 live births per day in the 10 to 19 age group.
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Every year, approximately 12 million girls aged between 15 to 19
years, and at least 777,000 girls under 15 years, give birth in
developing regions of the world.
In 2016, a United Nations Population Fund (UNFPA) report stated
that the Philippines has the highest number of teen pregnancies
across Asia. Multiple partners and low condom use were some of
the factors cited for the increase in birth rates. Moreover, the
UNFPA suggested that one in 10 young Filipino women age 15 to
19 is already a mother.Philippines:
Teen
Pregnancy Crisis
Athira Nortajuddin
23 March 2021
According to the Commission on Population and Development
(POPCOM), a Philippine government agency, the number of
pregnant children below 15 in the archipelago has doubled in the
past 10 years.
Juan Antonio Perez III, POPCOM’s Executive Director said
pregnancies among children aged between 10 to 14 years old went
up to 2,200 in 2018, more than double the 1,000 recorded in 2007.
"We have roughly... 40 to 50, 10-year-old children giving birth
every year," he explained.
Recently, the agency revealed that the country has recorded a
seven percent increase in births among girls aged 15 and below in
2019, up from the figure for teenage pregnancies in 2018.
Early pregnancy among adolescents results in major health
consequences for young mothers and their babies, according to the
World Health Organisation (WHO). The UN agency said that
pregnancy and childbirth complications are the leading causes of
death among adolescent girls globally, with low-and middleincome countries accounting for 99 percent of global maternal
deaths of females aged between 15 to 49 years old.
Other than that, the WHO also stated that teenage pregnancies
have led to some 3.9 million unsafe abortions among girls aged
between 15 to 19 years old per year, contributing to maternal
mortality, morbidity, and lasting health problems.
Source: Various
In the Philippines, teen pregnancy gets more problematic each year.
The government there labelled it a national social emergency in
2019. However, the issue has now worsened amid the coronavirus
pandemic.
COVID-19 Crisis
At the time of writing, the Philippines has registered over 670,000
COVID-19 cases nationwide with nearly 13,000 deaths to date. In
recent days, the country has been reporting over 7,000 cases daily,
hitting its highest daily tally yesterday when it reported 8,019
infections in 24 hours.
Like elsewhere around the world, the pandemic has affected
livelihoods, businesses, and the economy in the Philippines
A report by Save the Children titled, “Global Girlhood 2020:
COVID-19 and Progress in Peril” showed that a dramatic surge in
child marriages and adolescent pregnancies is expected during the
pandemic, due to the economic impacts of the health crisis.
“Early pregnancy robs teenage girls of their childhood and
deprives them of their right to survival, education, and a future.
Children, especially girls, remain at the side line of the global
COVID-19 response, yet, they face the worst impact of the
pandemic that threatens their lives and destroys their future,” said
Alberto Muyot, Chief Executive Officer of Save the Children
Philippines.
Back in November 2020, a Social Weather Stations (SWS) survey
found that Filipinos think that teenage pregnancy is the “most
important problem of women today” in the Philippines. The data
showed that 59 percent believed that early adolescent pregnancy
was the most important problem, followed by physical violence at
11 percent and unexpected pregnancy at 11 percent.
According to POPCOM, at the end of 2020, more than 70,000
families were led by minors. However, the agency warned that this
number will dramatically rise to 133,265 by the end of 2021.
Disrupted Services
The COVID-19 pandemic has disrupted family planning and
maternal and new born health services globally. In the Philippines,
these indirect effects may significantly increase annual maternal
deaths and unintended pregnancies during the pandemic compared
to the pre-COVID years, suggested a study conducted by the
University of the Philippines Population Institute (UPPI) and
UNFPA.
The study indicates that attention and resources for women’s
health might be diverted as the national and local health systems
are overwhelmed by the necessary response to COVID patients.
Local Senator Risa Hontiveros, shared the same sentiment, stating
that the country’s health system has undergone a “COVID-ization,”
which means budgets for reproductive health programmes have
been diverted to the COVID-19 response, making it harder for
women and girls to access birth control during the pandemic.
Nevertheless, even prior to the pandemic, contraceptive access has
long been a complicated and divisive problem in the
country. Birth control is a taboo in the Philippines where 80
percent of the population identifies as Catholic.
The ASEAN member state passed a reproductive health bill into
law in 2012. Nevertheless, as contraception is highly stigmatised,
health experts believe it will take years, if not decades, to change
the culture.
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