BEGANG NATIONAL HIGH SCHOOL

NEGATIVE IMPACT OF TEENAGE PREGNANCY IN THE PHILIPPINES

PANUNSULAN ISABELA CITY, BASILAN

NEGATIVE IMPACT OF TEENAGE PREGNANCY IN THE PHILIPPINES

Teenage pregnancy is a major concern in today’s society and it’s a social problem that affects the

entire community. Teenage pregnancy is defined as teenage girl. Usually within the ages 13-19

becoming pregnant. The term in everyday speech usually refers to girls who have not reached legal

adulthood which varies across the world who become pregnant. The teenage pregnancy rate in

the Philippines was 10% in 2008 down to 9% in 2017. Live birth by teenage mothers (age 10-19)

in 2016 total 203,085 which slightly decrease to 196,478 in 2017 and 13,000 in 2018. Still the

Philippines have one of the highest adolescent birth rates among the Asian member states. Early

child bearing may result in poor health outcomes and maybe a threat to the country’s economic

growth. Pregnant adolescent are less likely to complete higher education and have a lesser ability

to earn more income over the course of a lifetime, causing economic loses to the country. Teen
BEGANG NATIONAL HIGH SCHOOL

NEGATIVE IMPACT OF TEENAGE PREGNANCY IN THE PHILIPPINES

PANUNSULAN ISABELA CITY, BASILAN

child bearing is associated with negative outcomes for teen parents, their children and society.

Teenage pregnancy not only affects the teenage itself, but also the child, the families involve.

Teenage pregnancy is one of the major factors that affect population growth in the Philippines. It

is considered as one of the major problems of the government facing today. A child causes a

person to learn responsibility and maturity very quickly. This trait are necessary for the safe

keeping of a newborn child many others believe that having a child is a blessing and abortions are

not the right thing to do. Some believe that adoption could be a better choice because their child

can grow up in an environment where they can properly be taken care of. Teenage pregnancies

carry extra health risk to both the mother and their baby. Often, teens don’t get prenatal care soon

enough which can lead to problems later on. They have a higher risk for pregnancy related high

blood pressure and its complication risk for the baby include premature birth and a low birth

weight. It is known that girls who become pregnant as a teenager will face increase medical risks
BEGANG NATIONAL HIGH SCHOOL

NEGATIVE IMPACT OF TEENAGE PREGNANCY IN THE PHILIPPINES

PANUNSULAN ISABELA CITY, BASILAN

and if the pregnancy is taken to term, there is also increase in medical risk for their babies. We

also know that teenage mothers and their children can suffer from poorer life outcomes. In

addition, the children of teenage mother are more likely to become teenage mothers perpetuating

the inter generation cycle of teenage pregnancies with the consequences in mind, we should aim

to further reduce the incidence of teenage pregnancy in particular, those pregnancies that are

unwanted and unintended. Our findings suggest that interventions to reduce teenage pregnancy

rates could address other issues in addition to this issues is the traditional focus on sex education

program should be implemented. In particular early intervention to treat behavioral problems may

also be useful in reducing the incident of unwanted teenage pregnancy.