Most of the 11,297 teenagers in Negros Occidental who got pregnant in 2022 and 2023 were out-of- school youth, Dr. Girlie Pinongan, Provincial Health Officer, said Tuesday, February 6.
The youngest teen pregnancy was 12 years old, she also said.
Don Salvador Benedicto town was among the LGU topnotchers for teen pregnancies, she also said. Of the pregnancies recorded in the town more than 50 percent reportedly involved teenage mothers.
Poverty and the teens having no aspirations or dreams in life are among the factors for their early pregnancies, Pinongan said.
In 2023 of the 35, 628 pregnant mothers in Negros Occidental, 5, 271 were teenagers, Pinongan reiterated.
In 2022 of the 39,411 pregnant mothers, 6, 026 were teenagers, she added.
Pinongan stressed the importance of reproductive health education in schools, and of health workers assisting pregnant teenagers.*