Teenage pregnancy highest in Davao region

DAVAO CITY – Davao Region recorded the highest teenage pregnancy rate in the country at 17.9 percent, a 2017 National Demographic and Health Survey (NDHS) released by the Philippine Statistics Authority (PSA) showed.

Administered on women aged 15 to 19 years old who have given birth or were pregnant with their first child, the survey showed the teenage pregnancy rate in the region in 2017 was almost double compared to national average at 8.6 percent.

At least 16 percent of the teenage women who have begun child-bearing have had previous live birth, while 2 percent were pregnant with their first child at the time of the survey, according to the PSA.

Davao Region is comprised of the provinces of Davao Del Norte, Davao Oriental, Compostela Valley, Davao del Sur, and Davao Occidental and this city.

The study noted that the two other Mindanao provinces Northern Mindanao (14.7%) and Soccsksargen (14.5%) placed second and third highest, respectively, in terms of teenage pregnancy rate.

The PSA study showed that teenage pregnancy figures for remaining three Mindanao provinces were 7.5 percent for Zamboanga Peninsula, 8.2 percent for Caraga, and 8.5 percent for the Autonomous Region in Muslim Mindanao (ARMM).

Of the 25,074 women surveyed for the NDHS, at least 5,120 were teenagers from 15 to 19 years old.

The 2017 study found that 62.2 percent of the married women surveyed were using contraception in the Davao, higher compared to 53.8 percent recorded in the NDHS 2013; 48.9 percent of the contraceptive users rely on modern method and 13.2 percent on traditional method; and 37.8 percent of the married women were reported as not using any method of contraception.

It added the “use of modern method increased by 25 percent from the previous NDHS survey round.”

The PSA said the pill remains as the most used modern method of contraception at 28.1 percent; 6.5 percent female sterilization and 5.9% intrauetrine device (IUD); and nine percent of married women used withdrawal as traditional method of contraception.