TEENAGE PREGNANCY:

Untangling the
Cause and Effect

JOFRED M. MARTINEZ, RN, MAN

Nurse II
Department of Education
Division of Antique
 TEENAGE PREGNANCY:
Objectives:
• Global and Philippine burden
• Causes including its social determinants
• Effects and complications
• Practices in preventing teenage pregnancy
• Moving forward
 TEENAGE PREGNANCY:
Global Statistics

7.3 million girls

become pregnant before 18 each year
 TEENAGE PREGNANCY:
Global Statistics

2.5 million girls

aged 15 or younger give birth each year
 TEENAGE PREGNANCY:
Global Statistics

Half of pregnancies
among girls aged 15-19 living in developing
regions are unintended
 TEENAGE PREGNANCY:
Global Statistics

2 highest cause of death

nd
pregnancy and childbirth complications
for girls aged 15 to 19
TEENAGE PREGNANCY:
Global Statistics

3 million girls
undergo unsafe abortions every year
 TEENAGE PREGNANCY:
in the Philippines

one of the highest teen

pregnancy rates in the world
every hour, 24 babies are born to teenage mothers
 TEENAGE PREGNANCY:
in the Philippines

One in Ten Young Filipino Women

age 15 to 19 is already a mother or
pregnant with first child
 TEENAGE PREGNANCY:
in the Philippines

One in Ten Young Filipino Women

age 15 to 19 is already a mother or
pregnant with first child
 TEENAGE PREGNANCY:
in the Philippines

43% are already mothers

among young adult women age 20 to 24
TEENAGE PREGNANCY:
in the Philippines

one in five (19%) young adult

women age 18 to 24 years
initiated their sexual activity before age 18
TEENAGE PREGNANCY:
in the Philippines
TEENAGE PREGNANCY:
in the Philippines
TEENAGE PREGNANCY:
Causes and Effects
 TEENAGE PREGNANCY:
Factors
• peer pressure, drugs and substance abuse
leading to compromised decisions;
• irresponsible sexual behavior that
frequently occurs in youth who do not have
basic information about sex and
contraception;
• early marriage and child bearing among
adolescent females;
 TEENAGE PREGNANCY:
Factors
• problems in parent-child relationship,
poverty and material deprivation that may
push young people into survival sex in
exchange for money and food;
• exposure to suggestive or explicit media,
films, magazines, music that may influence
adolescent sexual behavior, causing them to
engage in sexual activity before they are
ready; and
 TEENAGE PREGNANCY:
Factors
• failure to comply with religious principles
and commandments prescribed by religious
ethics.
 TEENAGE PREGNANCY:
Behavioral causes
• Engagement in unprotective sex
• Engagement in sex with multiple partners
• Transactional or commercial sex
 TEENAGE PREGNANCY:
Health risks for pregnant teenagers
• premature births
• babies born with a lower birth weight
• problems with breastfeeding
• anemia, or low iron levels, during pregnancy
• high blood pressure
• emotional and mental health problems
• substance misuse
TEENAGE PREGNANCY:
Effects
 TEENAGE PREGNANCY:
Preventive Practices
• Personal values about sex and abstinence
• Perception of peer norms and sexual
behavior
• Knowledge of sexual issues, HIV, other STDs,
and pregnancy (including methods of
prevention)
• Perception of HIV risk
 TEENAGE PREGNANCY:
Preventive Practices
• Attitudes towards
condoms
• Individual ability to
refuse sex and to
use condoms
 TEENAGE PREGNANCY:
Preventive Practices
SEXUALITY EDUCATION
Aims to:
• make young people like and respect
themselves;
• help learners see sexuality as a natural and
positive part of life;
• teach skills to make informed and
responsible decisions; and
• explore different values and attitudes.
 TEENAGE PREGNANCY:
Preventive Practices
PROTECTIVE FACTORS
• Intent to abstain from sex or limit number
of partners.
• Communication with parents or other
adults about sex, condoms and
contraception.
• Individual’s ability to avoid HIV/STD risk and
risk behaviors.
 TEENAGE PREGNANCY:
Preventive Practices
PROTECTIVE FACTORS
• Avoidance of places and situations that
might lead to sex.
• Intent to use a condom.
TEENAGE PREGNANCY:
Interventions
TEENAGE PREGNANCY:
Interventions
Teenage pregnancy in schools
 TEENAGE PREGNANCY:
Interventions
Teenage pregnancy in schools
"In public schools, it may not be a policy to kick out
students, but there are schools which automatically
kick out children who get pregnant, and
automatically also destroy their lives. And this is
where the enrichment comes in. You have a right to
go back to school, you have a right to be treated
humanely“.
DepEd Secretary Leonor Briones
 TEENAGE PREGNANCY:
Interventions
COUNSELLING in schools
• Department of Education prohibiting the
penalizing of students in public schools
because of pregnancy.
• The school should have a designated
guidance counselor.
 TEENAGE PREGNANCY:
Interventions
COUNSELLING in schools
What you should do:
• Greet the adolescent in a cordial manner.
• Explain to the adolescent that:
✓ you are there to help them, and that you
will do your best to understand and
respond to their needs and problems;
✓ you would like them to communicate
with you freely and without hesitation;
WHO: Adolescent Job Aid 2010
 TEENAGE PREGNANCY:
Interventions
COUNSELLING in schools
What you should do:
✓ they should feel at ease and not be afraid
because you will not say or do anything
that negatively affects them;
✓ you want them to decide how much they
would like to involve their parents or
others;

WHO: Adolescent Job Aid 2010

 TEENAGE PREGNANCY:
Interventions
COUNSELLING in schools
What you should do:
✓ you will not share with their parents or
anyone else any information that they
have entrusted you with, unless they give
you the permission to do so.

WHO: Adolescent Job Aid 2010

 TEENAGE PREGNANCY:
Interventions
COUNSELLING in schools
What you should do:
• If the adolescent is accompanied by an
adult, in their presence, explain to the
accompanying adult that:
✓ you want to develop a good working
relationship with the adolescent. At
some stage you may need some time to
speak to the adolescent alone.
WHO: Adolescent Job Aid 2010
 TEENAGE PREGNANCY:
Interventions
COUNSELLING questions
• Have your periods started yet? If so, how
old were you when your periods started?
• Have you learned about sexuality at school,
at home or elsewhere?
• Depending on the context, ask whether
their friends have boyfriends/girlfriends,
and then whether they do so themselves.

WHO: Adolescent Job Aid 2010

 TEENAGE PREGNANCY:
Interventions
COUNSELLING questions
• Again depending on the context, ask
whether their friends have had sex, and
then whether they have done so
themselves. Probe about penetrative sex,
e.g. “Does he touch your genitals only?”
and “Does he put his penis in your
vagina/mouth?”)

WHO: Adolescent Job Aid 2010

 TEENAGE PREGNANCY:
Interventions
COUNSELLING questions
Reproductive health questions:
• Do you know how one could get pregnant?
• Do you know how one could avoid getting
pregnant?
• Are you currently trying to avoid getting
pregnant?
• If so, what do you do to avoid getting
pregnant?
WHO: Adolescent Job Aid 2010
 TEENAGE PREGNANCY:
Interventions
COUNSELLING questions
Reproductive health questions:
• Do you know about contraceptive
methods?
• If so, do you use any contraceptive method?
• Have you had sex in the last month?
• Is your period delayed? Have you missed a
period?
WHO: Adolescent Job Aid 2010
 TEENAGE PREGNANCY:
Interventions
COUNSELLING questions
Reproductive health questions:
• Do you have any of the following symptoms
of pregnancy: nausea or vomiting in the
morning, and swollen and sore breasts?
• When was the last time you had sex?

WHO: Adolescent Job Aid 2010

 TEENAGE PREGNANCY:
Interventions
COUNSELLING questions
Sexually active adolescents:
• Do you know what a sexually transmitted
infection is?
• Do you do anything to avoid getting a
sexually transmitted infection?
• How many sexual partners have you had in
last three months?

WHO: Adolescent Job Aid 2010

 TEENAGE PREGNANCY:
Interventions
COUNSELLING questions
Sexually active adolescents:
• Do you know about condoms? Do you use
them when you have sex? If so, do you use
them always? If not, why not? Where do you
get condoms?
• Have you ever had an infection: genital sore,
ulcer, swelling or discharge?
• If so, have you received any treatment for this?
WHO: Adolescent Job Aid 2010
 TEENAGE PREGNANCY:
Interventions
COUNSELLING questions
Adolescents who are pregnant:
• Where will you live?
• Will you stay in school?
• Who will help you take care of your baby?
• Will the baby’s father be involved? How
about your parents and his family?
• Where will you and your baby get
healthcare? WHO: Adolescent Job Aid 2010
 TEENAGE PREGNANCY:
Interventions
COUNSELLING questions
• How will you handle money?
• How soon do you plan to have another
baby?

WHO: Adolescent Job Aid 2010

 TEENAGE PREGNANCY:
Interventions
Promote proper prenatal care
• Seek prenatal care.
• Get tested for sexually transmitted
infections (STIs).
• Eat a healthy diet.
• Stay physically active.
• Gain weight wisely.
• Avoid risky substances.
WHO: Adolescent Job Aid 2010
 TEENAGE PREGNANCY:
Interventions
Issues for parents
• Parents may experience shock,
disappointment, anxiety, anger and
sometimes a sense of guilt or responsibility.
• There may be a loss of their dreams for
their daughter (or son).
• Some of the choices available could go
against parents' values.
 TEENAGE PREGNANCY:
Interventions
Issues for parents
• If their daughter does not tell them for a
long time, there can be considerable
disappointment that she feared their
response so much.
• There may be concerns about what friends
and other family members think.
TEENAGE PREGNANCY:
Interventions
Legislations

REPUBLIC ACT NO. 10354

"The Responsible Parenthood and
Reproductive Health Act of 2012″
TEENAGE PREGNANCY:
Untangling the
Cause and Effect

JOFRED M. MARTINEZ, RN, MAN

Nurse II
Department of Education
Division of Antique