Teenage pregnancy

According to the World Health Organization, teenage pregnancy occurs during puberty or adolescence, that is, between the ages of 10 and 19. More than 10% of births in the world are the result of teenage pregnancy between the ages of 15 and 19, and almost all (95%) happen in low and middle income countries. At the same time, they occur among adolescents with low education levels and from poor and rural communities (WHO, 2020).

Some of these pregnancies are wanted. Most are not. Some factors that can lead to unwanted pregnancies in adolescence are child marriage, sexual violence, and the limited or lack of access to comprehensive sexuality education, to contraceptive services, and to the contraceptive methods (WHO, 2020).

This type of pregnancy generates significant health, social, and economic consequences. On the one hand, teenage pregnancy is one of the main causes of maternal mortality and neonatal mortality. It is also the reason that many people are born with low weight. Unsafe abortions are associated to unwanted pregnancies during this stage in life and they also cause health complications and, often, adolescent death. On the other hand, pregnant teenagers sometimes drop out of school. With lower education levels, accessing labour opportunities is more complex. This takes an economic and social toll on the teenager, on the community, and also on countries (WHO, 2020).

It is important to distinguish pregnancies that occur during early adolescence (between the ages of 10 and 14) from those that happen in late adolescence (between the ages of 15 and 19) since they have different implications in terms of public policies, access to rights, and personal autonomy.