Premature

Indeed, we should celebrate the fact that teenage pregnancies in Iloilo City decreased from 410 cases in 2019 to 408 last year.

Yeah, it’s a 2-case decrease and no matter what we say, local officials will still spin it in a positive light given the pandemic-related restrictions that kept almost everyone at home last year.

Most of the cases were girls 15 to 19 years old who mostly reside in depressed areas.

This is just in Iloilo City. The national numbers look grim.

The Philippine Statistics Authority reported about two 10-year-old mothers in Metro Manila and Southern Luzon.

The Commission on Population and Development said such cases were concerning, even though the number of mothers between 10 to 19 years old went down in 2019, according to a report by ABS-CBN.

The report cited Popcom National Capital Region director Lydio Espanol Jr. as saying that pregnancies involving minors were worrying, because cases posed “extra health risks” for the mother and the infant, “including pre-term delivery and severe neonatal conditions.”

As reported by the World Health Organization, complications during pregnancy and childbirth are still the leading causes of death for 15-19 year olds globally.

Espanol added that local government units should “harmonize efforts” in boosting reproductive health education.

Citing PSA data, Popcom said cases of infants being born to mothers aged between 10 and 14 dropped slightly by 6.5 percent in 2019, after recording 345 cases compared to 369 in 2018.

Births by women aged 15 to 19 dipped by 4.8 percent in 2019 after logging 19,614 births from 20,613 in 2018, the same data showed.

According to Plan International, the most common causes of teenage pregnancy are:

-Lack of information about sexual and reproductive health and rights

-Inadequate access to services tailored to young people

-Family, community and social pressure to marry

-Sexual violence

-Child, early and forced marriage, which can be both a cause and a consequence

-Lack of education or dropping out of school

By all indications, the problem of teenage pregnancy is not just about promiscuity or morality. It needs a whole of the community approach. Opportunities should be provided to women and children to break the cycle that shackles them to this conundrum.

Failure to stem teenage pregnancy will only deepen the inequalities that we suffered since the colonial era.