Teenage Pregnancy: A Mother's Perspective: Joefel T. Libo-On Joemar F. Manzo Orfelina I. Manzo
Teenage Pregnancy: A Mother's Perspective: Joefel T. Libo-On Joemar F. Manzo Orfelina I. Manzo
Teenage Pregnancy: A Mother's Perspective: Joefel T. Libo-On Joemar F. Manzo Orfelina I. Manzo
ISSN: 2577-7750
Vol. 8, No. 2, pp. 50-55.
2021
DOI: 10.33094/7.2017.2021.82.50.55
© 2021 by the authors; licensee Online Academic Press, USA
Joefel T. Libo-on1*
Joemar F. Manzo2
Orfelina I. Manzo3
1. Introduction
Teenage pregnancy, also known as adolescent pregnancy, is pregnancy in a female under the age of
20. Pregnancy can occur with sexual intercourse after the start of ovulation, which can be before the first
menstrual period but usually occurs after the onset of periods (Steward & Raja, 2020).
The World Health Organization reported that there are approximately 12 million girls aged 15–19 years
and at least 777,000 girls under 15 years give birth each year in developing regions. At least 10 million
unintended pregnancies occur each year among adolescent girls aged 15–19 years in the developing world.
Complications during pregnancy and childbirth are the leading cause of death for 15–to 19-year-old girls
globally. Of the estimated 5.6 million abortions that occur each year among adolescent girls aged 15–19 years,
3.9 million are unsafe, contributing to maternal mortality, morbidity, and lasting health problems (World
Health Organization (WHO), 2020).
The UNESCO (2020) releases news stating the Early and Unintended Pregnancy: Recommendations for
the education sector, in addition to the detrimental effects on health, social, economic, and education of
adolescent girls, early and unintended pregnancy also put the young mother's and the child's lives at risk.
Related to pregnancy or childbirth complications are the second leading cause of death among 15- to 19-year-
olds, affecting around 70,000 teenagers per year (UNESCO, 2017).
The UNESCO was commissioned to help governments and education actors understand the effects of
early and unintended pregnancy and the actions necessary to prevent it while also ensuring that all girls,
including those who are pregnant and parenting, can realize their right to education in a safe and supportive
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school environment. In addition to the direct benefit for girls and their families, addressing this pressing
problem also contributes to the achievement of several Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) including Goal
1 is to eradicate poverty; Goal 3 is to promote healthy lives; Goal 5 is to achieve gender equality; and Goal 16
is to create peaceful and inclusive communities (UN Department of Economic and Social Affairs, 2015).
The Philippine Statistics Authority (PSA) estimated that the country will reach a 108.8 million population
at the end of 2020. More than 53 million are below 25 years old including the 10.3 million adolescent girls
aging 10–19 years old (PSA, 2014). This data shows the potential of the country to accelerate development.
On the contrary, the United Nation Population Fund (UNFPA) commissioned a study on 2016 shows that
those adolescents in the Philippines who have begun childbearing before the age of 18 are less likely to
complete secondary education compared to the adolescents who have not begun childbearing. The non-
completion of secondary education impacts employment opportunities in the future and the total lifetime
earnings of families. The net estimated effect of early childbearing due to lost opportunities and foregone
earnings can be as high as 33 Billion pesos annual losses for the country (United Nations Population Fund,
2016).
The teenage pregnancy rate in the Philippines was 10% in 2008, down to 9% in 2017. Live births by
teenage mothers (aged 10-19) in 2016 totaled 203,085, which slightly decreased to 196,478 in 2017 and
183,000 in 2018 (UNFPA, 2020). Still, the Philippines has one of the highest adolescent birth rates among the
ASEAN Member States. Recent World Bank data shows that the Philippines has 47 births annually per 1,000
women aged 15-19, higher than the average adolescent birth rates of 44 globally and 33.5 in the ASEAN
region (UNICEF, 2019). Lao PDR (76), Cambodia (57), Indonesia (48), and Thailand (43). This entails that
more than 500 Filipino adolescent girls are getting pregnant and giving birth every day (UNFPA, 2020).
According to the Municipal Social Welfare and Development (MSWD) Office of Odiongan, Romblon,
from the year 2015- 2019, the number of early pregnancy has also smoothly increased, from the year 2015 the
number of teenage pregnancies is 120 while in the year 2016 have some 126, then 105 by the year of 2017, 80
in 2018 and 116 in 2019. In five years, the number of cases of teenage pregnancy has a total of 431 in the
Municipality of Odiongan. According to the Commission on Population, the gathered data in the said
municipality is leading the highest number of early pregnancies in the province of Romblon. This issue is very
alarming in the Municipality of Odiongan, Romblon.
2. Literature Review
Teenage or adolescence is a stage where teenagers adjust to their physical and emotional changes in life
(Steinberg & Lerner, 2004). World Health Organization (WHO) (2020) described this as a period of
development and growth that happens after childhood and before adulthood from ages 10 to 19. Therefore,
teenage pregnancy is defined as a teenage girl, usually within the ages of 13–19, becoming pregnant.
Teenage pregnancy is a social problem that leads to the disruption of schooling, poor child outcomes,
childbearing and demographic concerns about increasing population numbers (Macleod, 2003). Smith (2007)
identified socio-economic status as the main predictor in understanding teenage mother's educational
attainment and long-term low socioeconomic status later in life. Also, many teenage mothers have poor
decisions which resulted in severe economic and social consequences. World Health Organization (WHO)
(2020) argued that girls who become pregnant before the age of 18 years old are more likely to jeopardize
girls’ future employment opportunities.
In the study conducted by Navarro and Walker (2012) giving birth by a teenager affects leaving school,
and most likely the same will happen to the child of teenage mothers. This conclusion was further
strengthened by the finding of Gyan (2013) stating that teenage pregnant dropped out from school for the
reason of child delivery or even after delivery, teenage mothers tend not to return to school due to the shy
feelings of being pregnant.
Poor maternal and reproductive health is also a prevalent associated with teenage pregnancy as Habitu,
Yalew, and Bisetegn (2017) found out that there is high evidence of contraceptive non-use among teenagers
which might lead to unwanted and risky pregnancy, and unwanted pregnancy-induced abortions (Aderibigbe
et al., 2011). The reasons given for resorting to abortion include; not being married, being too young, still in
school, and partners not wanting the child among other reasons (Habitu et al., 2017).
Problematic marital relationship is another issue that teenage mothers are confronting. This argument
was supported by the statement of Cummins and Fonseca (2017) saying that teenage pregnancy proceeded to
the early marriage unless they were abandoned by the father of the child, in case of rape or if the man was
already married. Another consequence of early pregnancy is to go with forced marriage, UNICEF (2001)
found out that many of the victims of this practice suffered from prolonged domestic violence, but felt unable
to leave the marriage because of economic pressures, lack of family support, and other social circumstances.
Domestic violence and divorce is a high possibility of early pregnancy as concluded by Hidayana et al. (2016).
3. Methodology
A qualitative method of research was used in this study, hence, non-numerical data were considered in this
paper. To explore the narratives of mother-participants on teenage pregnancy, the study utilizes narrative
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International Journal of Social Sciences Perspectives 2021, Vol. 8, No. 2, pp. 50-55
analysis. It permits participants to share their experiences in terms of their demographic descriptions; the
causes of early pregnancy; problems they encountered as to childbearing, school performance, emotional
stress; and their regrets. Informal interviews and discussions through the use of a semi-structured guide
question were used to navigate the perspective through conversation among participant’s narratives.
Narratives of participants were thematically consolidated and analyzed.
Ten (10) mother-participants were interviewed which all came from the Municipality of Odiongan,
Province of Romblon. Researchers selected the participants through the use of patanong – tanong, an approach
of Indigenous Filipino methodology of Pakapa – kapa (Pe-Pua & Protacio-Marcelino, 2000). According to
Antonio (2016) this method in Philippine Psychology may be defined as a suppositions approach to social
scientific investigations. As implied by the term itself, pakapa-kapa is an approach characterized by groping,
searching, and probing into an unsystematized mass of social and cultural data to be able to obtain an order,
meaning, and directions for research.
Since this study exposes the private life of participants, therefore, the privacy of information was
considered. The real name of participants in this study was not mentioned; instead, they were coded as to Key
Informant or K1 to K10. To ascertain the willingness of participants, a letter of consent, approved by the
university research office was given and discussed to the participants before the actual conduct of the
interviews. The committee on ethics ensures that no participants were harm during the entire conduct of the
study. The data gathered where coded, arranged, and analyzed thematically by the researchers.
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than with their parents which can affect their choices and decisions (Gouws, Burger, & Kruger, 2008; Malisa,
2015).
Individual-level factors influencing teenage pregnancy are described as factors that are most proximal to
sexual behaviors and include the teenager's attitude, values, and actions that impinge on his or her sexual-
related choices (Farber, 2009). On the narratives of participants, their willingness and curiosity of having sex
with their partners were some of the reasons for getting pregnant (K2, K9, and K10).
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International Journal of Social Sciences Perspectives 2021, Vol. 8, No. 2, pp. 50-55
the academe will play an important role in guiding these teenagers to their success. The office of Gender
Advocacy and Development (GAD) and the guidance counsellors in every school and university should
monitor their mother – students. Regular consultation and encouragement are a big help for mothers in
correcting their greatest regrets of finishing their studies and in achieving their dreams of quality
employment.
Secondly, preventing our players from committing mistakes. Teenage pregnancy can be minimized if not
prevented if they will not practice outside wedding sexual practices. On this matter, creating awareness of
teenage pregnancy in the community and the academe is a must. There is a need to utilize all the means of
information dissemination to reach out to the community at large to raise awareness about the causes and
consequences of teenage pregnancy. This can be done through information and educational campaigns in
schools, universities, and communities.
Part of creating awareness is to initiate “Parent-Child Communication Workshops” in the communities.
There is a great need to improve parent-child communication; therefore workshops can be arranged in schools,
universities, or communities. This approach aims to empower parents and their children to develop effective
communications strategies so that together they can address the issues that teenagers are confronting
including sexual and reproductive health.
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