Motherhood in Childhood

ADOLESCENTS, AGES 10 TO 19, LIVING WITH HIV, 2009
Female Male Total
Region
Estimate
(low estimate -
high estimate)
Estimate
(low estimate -
high estimate)
Estimate
(low estimate -
high estimate)
East and Southern Africa 760,000 (670,000 - 910,000) 430,000 (370,000 - 510,000) 1,200,000 (1,000,000 - 1,400,000)
Western and Central Africa 330,000 (270,000 - 440,000) 190,000 (140,000 - 240,000) 520,000 (390,000 - 680,000)
Middle East and North Africa 22,000 (17,000 - 30,000) 9,700 (7,800 - 12,000) 32,000 (25,000 - 40,000)
South Asia 50,000 (44,000 - 57,000) 54,000 (47,000 - 66,000) 100,000 (90,000 - 130,000)
East Asia and the Pacific 27,000 (15,000 - 30,000) 23,000 (14,000 - 34,000) 50,000 (29,000 - 73,000)
Latin America and the Caribbean 44,000 (34,000 - 55,000) 44,000 (31,000 - 82,000) 88,000 (62,000 - 160,000)
CEE/CIS 9,000 (7,700 - 10,000) 3,900 (3,400 - 4,500) 13,000 (11,000 - 15,000)
World 1,300,000 (1,100,000 - 1,500,000) 780,000 (670,000 - 900,000) 2,000,000 (1,800,000 - 2,400,000)
Source: UNICEF, 2011.
Health risks to girls giving birth before
age 15
Research indicates that very young adolescents in
low- and middle-income countries have double
the risk for maternal death and obstetric fistula
than older women (including older teens),
especially in sub-Saharan Africa and South Asia
(Blum et al., 2013).
As young people transition from the early to
late adolescent years, sexual and reproductive
behaviours contribute to diverging mortality
and morbidity patterns by gender, with younger
adolescent girls facing an increased risk of
sexual coercion, sexually transmitted infections,
including HIV, as well as the gender-specific consequences
of unintended pregnancies and
psychological trauma (Blum et al., 2013).
Neal et al. (2012) also show that girls who
are 15 or younger are at markedly higher odds
for conditions such as eclampsia, anaemia, postpartum
haemorrhage and puerperal endometritis
than older adolescents. Evidence also suggests
that the adverse neonatal outcomes associated
with adolescent pregnancies are greater for
younger adolescents.
Many countries with high levels of early adolescent
motherhood are also those with very high
maternal mortality ratios (Neal et al., 2012).
A study by the World Health Organization
shows that girls who become pregnant at 14 or
younger are more likely to experience premature
delivery, low infant birth weight, perinatal
mortality and health problems in newborns
(World Health Organization, 2011). The risks
THE STATE OF WORLD POPULATION 2013
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