Popcom: Lockdowns cut cases of teen pregnancy

THE lockdowns imposed by the government to prevent the spread of Covid-19 also reduced the number of teen pregnancies nationwide, according to the Commission on Population and Development (Popcom).

Popcom Executive Director Juan Antonio A. Perez III said the data from the Philippine Statistics Authority (PSA) showed births among adolescent mothers in the country in 2020 declined by 23,855 births.

This represented a 13-percent contraction from 2019, a 17-year record for the sharpest decrease in births in women under 20 years of age since 2003.

“(The sharpest decline in births was in December,) which also shows the impact of Covid-19, the lockdowns and schools shifting away from face-to-face delivery of learning,” Perez said.

A substantial part of the decrease occurred in the 15-yearold to 19-year-old age bracket, as there were 23,557 mothers in that group, constituting 98.7 percent of the decline.

Meanwhile, among 10-year-olds to 14-year-olds or the very young adolescents (VYA), there were 298 fewer births, with the downtrend slightly lower at 12 percent.

“This is good news for us and our partners who have been advocating for a reduction in teen pregnancies, as well as the health, population and social workers in local government units (LGUS) who stepped up their services in adolescent health to achieve this result,” Perez said.

Based on PSA data, there were 157,060 births registered to teenage mothers or those under 15 years old as well as the 15 to 19 years old. This was lower than the 180,915 births recorded in 2019.

In terms of daily average, the data showed 430 births per day was recorded to mothers who were below 20 years old. This means adolescents give birth to 17 to 18 babies born per hour.

Of this number in 2020, some 154,947 births were to mothers aged 15 to 19 years old. This translates to 425 births per day or around 17 births per hour.

The rest of the births were for mothers aged under 15 years old at 2,113. This translates to 6 babies born to mothers under 15 years old per day or 1 baby born to these girls every four hours.

“Parents and their adolescent children have internalized an increased awareness about the problem of teen pregnancies with regard to the health and wellbeing of girls having children as minors,” Perez said.

“The decline noted throughout the year serves as evidence that things are slowly changing for the better for our young women,” he added.

The Philippine Statistics Authority also announced that adolescent birth rates were at 31 per 1,000 girls in 2020—significantly lower than 47 per 1,000 as stated in the 2017 National Demographic Health Survey (NDHS).

The Philippine Development Plan targets a rate of 37 per 1,000, while Popcom is aiming for a 50-percent reduction: from the baseline of 57 percent as stated in the 2013 NDHS, to 28 percent by 2022.

A comprehensive action plan to address adolescent pregnancies was called for by virtue of Executive Order 141 issued in 2021 by President Duterte, which is due for implementation this year.