BAGUIO CITY — Bontoc Mayor Jerome “Chagsen” Tudlong, Jr. has appealed to the public to help in lessening the number of teenage pregnancies as the local government of Bontoc, Mountain Province recorded its youngest mother at 13 years old.
Municipal Civil Registrar Valentina Domaoa said that they have registered the young mother in the year 2022.
In 2021, the youngest mother recorded in the municipal registry was 16 years old.
Domaoa said the number of teenage mothers in 2022 has increased by 39.28 percent compared to the previous year. She disclosed that out of the 39 registered teenage mothers in 2022, 17 are natives of Bontoc and the remaining 22, who gave birth and registered in the municipality, are from neighboring towns or provinces.
Data from the Philippine Statistics Authority and the Municipal Civil Registry Office show a total of 767 live births with 39 coming from teenage mothers.
Meanwhile, 609 births were from 28 teenage mothers registered in 2021. According to PSA, about one in every 10 teenage mothers in the entire Mountain Province is registered in Bontoc.
According to the World Health Organization, adolescent mothers (aged 10 to 19) face higher risks of eclampsia, puerperal endometritis and systemic infections than women aged 20 to 24 years, while babies of adolescent mothers face higher risks of low birth weight, preterm birth and severe neonatal condition.