Teenage Pregnancy in the Philippines

In the year 2013, the total count of the population in the Philippines adds up to 105.72 million, which makes the country the twelfth most populated nation in the world, such a huge number for a relatively small country. In addition to that, over the past ten years, the number of Filipinas who got pregnant went up by sixty percent. This makes the country rank number three in the ASEAN region with the most number of teenage pregnancy cases, it is also alarming to know that the Philippines, among the ASEAN sectors, is the only nation wherein the rate is increasing. Adolescents make up twenty one percent of the total population of the Philippines, and about ten percent of the girls who are aged fifteen to nineteen have already gotten pregnant. These numbers are striking for a country that is dubbed as conservative, but these are the facts and it must be faced. Teenage pregnancy is a serious crisis that the country is experiencing. It is not only bad for the mother, but also her child and the society. Having a baby too early in life, a teenage mother’s future might look bleak. Teenage mothers are less likely to complete school, making them drop out, and are more probable to end up as single parents. To those who continue to live or get married to their ‘baby-daddy’, this is likely to be the start of a pattern of repeated child bearing. Attaining a low education status means it much harder for the parent to find a job that would pay enough money to suit her needs and the child. Aside from the financial problems early pregnancy can bring, the body of the adolescent is not yet suitable for child bearing hence the many complications one might experience. The younger the mother the more serious the physical consequences of pregnancy are likely to be. Complications in pregnancy and childbirth are the leading causes of death in women ages fifteen to nineteen in developing countries such as ours.
Being bore to an adolescent mother, the baby would also suffer some health