One of the greatest fears of a mother is for her teenage daughter to get pregnant. It is catastrophic if this happens, hence parents have to double or triple their guard to prevent their child from having a child herself.
According to the Department of Health, teenagers who get pregnant between the age of 10 to 19 years old have a high risk of dying.
Teen pregnancy mortality is two to five times more than adults —22 per cent maternal deaths comprise mothers aged 15 to 24 years old while 20per cent of those who deliver at 15 to 17 years old will be pregnant again in two years.
Education Sec. Leonor Magtolis-Briones reports that the increase in the number of out-of-school-youths can be traced to teenagers who are forced into marriage due to underage pregnancy.
The Philippine statistics Authority’s Annual Poverty Indicators Survey indicated that school dropouts have reached more than 2.97 million, 61.9 per cent of whom are girls aged 16 to 24, who are forced into “marriage or family matters.”
Secretary Briones adds that this is where the implementation of the Reproductive Health Law in the public school curriculum should be given attention.
She also said, “Even before I assumed office, I was given instructions by President Duterte to adjust the curriculum to include RH and gender education for learners starting at the age of 10, considering that the earliest recorded pregnancy in the Philippines is 10 years old.” (Delon Porcalla and Sheila Crisostomo, The Philippine Star, Sept. 5, 2019).
Why is teen pregnancy a problem in our country? “About 500 teenage girls give birth in the Philippines every day as more adolescents engage in premarital sex, as claimed by the Commission on Population last Thursday, thus raising concerns about early and unplanned pregnancies in the world’s 13th most populated country.”
While teen pregnancy rate in our country has dropped to 8.7 per cent in 2017 from 10.2 per cent in 2016, the number still remains high, according to POPCOM Executive-Director Juan Antonio Perez.
Among the factors which has led to a high teen pregnancy rate includes: 1)exposure to vice or the internet, especially unfiltered content, 2) hanging out with drunk friends which usually leads to intimate affairs, 3) rise in cohabiting unions in this age group, 4) possible decrease in the stigma of out-of-wedlock pregnancy, 5) many adolescents are far from being able to engage informal reasoning about their sexual lives and urges or their social interactions, and 6) egocentrism takes center-stage in an adolescent’s life, an example is having the fantasy of The Personal Fable — teens believe that they can show off, take risks, both physical and sexual, which may lead to dangerous consequences —they believe that they are invulnerable and invincible —that is, sexually transmitted diseases and unwanted pregnancies happen to others but not to them. (Natividad, “Teenage Pregnancy in the Philippines: Trends, Correlates and Data Sources.” Journal of ASEAN Federation of Endocrine Societies).
What can parents and schools do? 1) provide information about sexuality, 2) discuss seduction techniques in social studies classes, 3) give attention to teen fathers, 4) help those who were sexually abused as children, 5) abstinence-only programs should be promoted; and 6) early prevention by encouraging parental nurturing.
Let us empower the girls by providing information about sex and reproductive health to reduce teen pregnancy in our country.
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Author’s email: [email protected]
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