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[av_heading heading=’City grapples with adolescent mamas’ tag=’h3′ style=’blockquote modern-quote’ size=” subheading_active=’subheading_below’ subheading_size=’15’ padding=’10’ color=” custom_font=”]
BY GLENDA SOLOGASTOA
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Friday, February 17, 2017
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ILOILO City – How do you solve a problem like adolescent pregnancies?
Parents have a big role to play, according to the City Population Office (CPO).
“They should provide guidance sa ila kabataan,” stressed Florence Galanto, team leader of CPO’s Adolescent Health and Development Program.
Either single, married or living with their partners without the benefit of marriage, a total of 691 teenage girls between 10 to 19 years old in this city got pregnant last year, CPO data showed.
According to Galanto, the CPO is exploring various youth programs to raise public awareness on early pregnancy such as peer counseling and forums discussing love and relationships, adolescent pregnancy and its adverse consequences to the young mother’s health, education and finances.
Teenage pregnancy has a lot of causes, according to Galanto.
Among these were curiosity, rebellion to parental authorities, lack of information or guidance from parents, physical satisfaction, and peer pressure.
HEALTH RISKS
Stillbirths and death in the first week of life are 50 percent higher among babies born to mothers younger than 20 years than among babies born to mothers between 20 to 29 years old, according to the World Health Organization (WHO).
Deaths during the first month of life are 50 to 100 percent more frequent if the mother is an adolescent versus older, and the younger the mother, the higher the risk, stressed WHO.
The rates of preterm birth, low birth weight and asphyxia are higher among the children of adolescents, all of which increase the chance of death and of future health problems for the baby, according to WHO.
Pregnant adolescents are more likely to smoke and use alcohol than are older women, which can cause many problems for the child and after birth, it added.
According to WHO, many girls who become pregnant also have to leave school. This has long-term implications for them as individuals, their families and communities.
Studies have shown that delaying adolescent births could significantly lower population growth rates, potentially generating broad economic and social benefits, in addition to improving the health of adolescents.
DROP
Cases of teenage pregnancy in this southern city were actually declining, a consolidated report of the CPO showed.
There were 2,351 cases in 2014 and 2,266 cases in 2015.
CPO’s data showed 18 cases among girls between 10 to 14 years old last year and 673 cases among girls between 15 to 19 years old – for a total of 691 cases.
The office also recorded 1,062 cases among young women between 20 to 24 years old.
Of the total 1,753 cases (691 plus 1,062), 164 were single, 260 were married and 1,329 were living with their partners though not married, according to the CPO.
“In Iloilo City, the trend is decreasing but for the country as a whole, the trend is increasing,” said Galanto.
She attributed the declining trend in this city to the strong partnership of the CPO and Commission on Population (PopCom) Region 6 in the campaign against adolescent pregnancy.
TOO YOUNG, TOO SOON
CPO’s data showed Molo district having the most number of teenage pregnancies at 353 in 2016, 460 in 2015 and 502 in 2014.
Jaro district came in second with 353 cases in 2016, 460 cases in 2015 and 404 cases in 2014.
CPO bared the following teen pregnancy statistics for the other districts:
* Arevalo – 288 cases in 2016, 348 cases in 2015 and 345 cases in 2014
* Mandurriao – 224 cases in 2016, 211 cases in 2015 and 216 cases in 2014
* La Paz – 188 cases in 2016, 437 cases in 2015 and 329 cases in 2014
* City Proper – 178 cases in 2016, 290 cases in 2015 and 408 cases in 2014
* Lapuz – 132 cases in 2016, 77 cases in 2015 and 147 cases in 2014.
According to WHO, about 16 million women between 15 to 19 years old give birth each year – about 11 percent of all births worldwide.
Ninety-five percent of these births occur in low- and middle-income countries, added WHO.
The average adolescent birth rate in middle-income countries is more than twice as high as that in high-income countries, with the rate in low-income countries being five times as high, it stated.
The CPO had not recorded any case of teenage pregnancy involving 10-year-old mothers, clarified Galanto.
Mostly of teenage pregnancy cases involved girls between 13 and 14 years old. /PN
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