Teenage pregnancy affects 5. An estimated babies are born to Filipino teenage mothers every single day, according to Philippine Statistical Authority It also creates a greater risk in terms of maternal complications that affect the mother and the child they bear resulting in low survival rates.
There is no single cause for the rising rate of teenage pregnancy, but rather a combination of factors ranging from biological, social, and cultural. These factors includes the following, but are not limited to 1 early sexual debut; 2 lack of access to comprehensive sex information and education; 3 Parents, who are identified by adolescents as one of their preferred source of information on Sexual Reproductive Health information have limited communication skills; 4 lack of access to family planning services; 5 cultural practices of early union; and 6 lack of adolescent sexuality and reproductive health ASRH policies and its full-implementation.
To curb the rise in teenage pregnancy cases, Save the Children Philippines called for the enactment of the Teenage Pregnancy Prevention bill, which will ensure the implementation of CSE in schools, training of teachers to deliver CSE, and capacitating parents and carers to communicate sexuality education to their children.
The bill will also ensure the access of pregnant teenagers to social protection programs, and access of adolescents to reproductive health services.
Together, we need to help create a culture where boys and men respect the rights of girls and women. The baseline study conducted by Save the Children among very young adolescents VYAs in revealed that VYAs preferred source of information was their mother.
