CITY OF SAN FERNANDO, Pampanga — The Commission on Population and Development disclosed on Friday that teenage pregnancy ratings in Region 3 dropped to 17.19 percent in 2021.
The POPCOM said that data from the 2021 Civil Registry and Vital Statistics showed that Central Luzon is still the second highest area with teenage pregnancy in the country, with 2021 reporting 15,504 cases of live births among adolescent mothers as compared to 18,722 in 2020.
According to POPCOM regional director Lourdes Nacionales, such numbers are still alarming, adding that the rising incidence of pregnancies among younger girls aged 14 and below.
“While majority of teenage pregnancy in the region is still highest among adolescents 15 to 19, there were also 306 live births or 1.97 percent coming from very young adolescents aged 10 to 14,” Nacionales said.
This is a 13.33 percent increase of very young adolescents being pregnant.
The record for teenage pregnancy cases states: Bulacan with 4,290; Pampanga with 4,059; Nueva Ecija with 2,194; Tarlac with 1,555; Bataan with 1,203; Zambales with 1,102; and Aurora with 381.
The POPCOM official cited that crucial factors attributed to the prevalence of teenage pregnancy in the region include the interplay of information and communication technology, poverty, and lack of access to reproductive health information and services played a crucial role in the prevalence of teenage pregnancy.
“Women who received minimal education are the ones who are likely to get pregnant at an early age, and young girls getting pregnant are higher in rural areas,” Nacionales said.
Data released by Philippine Statistics Authority showed that one in 10 young women in the poorest quintile has been pregnant.
Nacionales stressed that teenage pregnancy is both a health and development concern as it affects the health and total development of the individual with implications on the family, community, and socioeconomic development.
“Babies born to very young mothers are at a higher risk of diseases and death,” she added.
Teenage mothers who have given birth are more likely to experience adverse pregnancy outcomes and are restrained from pursuing educational and employment opportunities.
With this, POPCOM pledged to intensify its initiatives on adolescent health and development within the local government units.
“We are advocating for zero teenage pregnancy and that one teenage pregnancy is too many considering the effects and impacts it brings to the life of these young mothers,” Nacionales said.
The agency is also continuously collaborating with various agencies to create policies that will help build multi-sectoral strategies to curb the prevalence of teenage pregnancy, which is already considered a national priority.