Childbearing in adolescents aged 12 – 15 in low resource countries: a neglected issue. New estimates from Demographic and Household Surveys in 47 countries
Childbearing in adolescents aged 12 – 15 in low resource countries: a neglected issue. New estimates from Demographic and Household Surveys in 47 countries
There is strong evidence that the health risks associated with adolescent pregnancy are concentrated among the youngest girls (e.g. those under 16 years). Fertility rates in this age group have not previously been comprehensively estimated and published. By drawing data from 42 large, nationally representative household surveys in low resource countries carried out since 2003 this article presents estimates of age specific birth rates for girls aged 12–15, and the percentage of girls who give birth at age 15 or younger. From these we estimate that approximately 2.5 million births occur to girls aged under 16 in low resource countries each year. The highest rates are found in Sub-Saharan Africa, where in Guinea, Mali, Mozambique, Niger and Sierra Leone more than 10% of girls become mothers before they are 16. Strategies to reduce these high levels are vital if we are to alleviate poor reproductive health.
Adolescent pregnancy, teenage pregnancy, maternal health, low resource countries
Neal, Sarah
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Matthews, Zoe
ebaee878-8cb8-415f-8aa1-3af2c3856f55
Frost, Melanie
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Fogstad, Helga
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Camacho, Alma V.
463ce483-7994-4c35-8779-c55445522fa0
Laski, Laura
53ca6dc0-59d4-4d13-bb30-d75bf57a22d9
2012
Neal, Sarah
2b63ebf7-1cf9-423d-80a2-bd99a759f784
Matthews, Zoe
ebaee878-8cb8-415f-8aa1-3af2c3856f55
Frost, Melanie
514c696d-92cd-4484-9771-d300bd6190c5
Fogstad, Helga
e7063934-dddf-4629-bbd1-17e43f5b28db
Camacho, Alma V.
463ce483-7994-4c35-8779-c55445522fa0
Laski, Laura
53ca6dc0-59d4-4d13-bb30-d75bf57a22d9
Neal, Sarah, Matthews, Zoe, Frost, Melanie, Fogstad, Helga, Camacho, Alma V. and Laski, Laura
(2012)
Childbearing in adolescents aged 12 – 15 in low resource countries: a neglected issue. New estimates from Demographic and Household Surveys in 47 countries.
Acta Obstetricia et Gynecologica Scandinavica, Epub.
(doi:10.1111/j.1600-0412.2012.01467.x).
Abstract
There is strong evidence that the health risks associated with adolescent pregnancy are concentrated among the youngest girls (e.g. those under 16 years). Fertility rates in this age group have not previously been comprehensively estimated and published. By drawing data from 42 large, nationally representative household surveys in low resource countries carried out since 2003 this article presents estimates of age specific birth rates for girls aged 12–15, and the percentage of girls who give birth at age 15 or younger. From these we estimate that approximately 2.5 million births occur to girls aged under 16 in low resource countries each year. The highest rates are found in Sub-Saharan Africa, where in Guinea, Mali, Mozambique, Niger and Sierra Leone more than 10% of girls become mothers before they are 16. Strategies to reduce these high levels are vital if we are to alleviate poor reproductive health.
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Accepted/In Press date: May 2012
e-pub ahead of print date: May 2012
Published date: 2012
Keywords:
Adolescent pregnancy, teenage pregnancy, maternal health, low resource countries
Organisations:
Social Statistics & Demography
Identifiers
Local EPrints ID: 339923
URI: http://eprints.soton.ac.uk/id/eprint/339923
PURE UUID: c5f145f0-d543-4690-8231-ef7f83e2ac00
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Date deposited: 01 Jun 2012 13:53
Last modified: 15 Mar 2024 03:34
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Contributors
Author:
Melanie Frost
Author:
Helga Fogstad
Author:
Alma V. Camacho
Author:
Laura Laski
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