At a recent meeting the Executive Committee of the World Health Organization (WHO) has revealed that Complications in pregnancy and childbirth are the leading cause of adolescent death between 15 and 19 years in poor and developing countries.
It is in these places where early gestations also have an important impact on health systems due to the health problems they generate. Health experts have met this week in Geneva, where they look for formulas to curb the high number of early pregnancies at an early age.
In addition to the ailments and health problems arising from pregnancy and adolescent childbirth (for example, 65% of women suffering from obstetric fistula developed this ailment during adolescence, with serious consequences for their lives), there is a strong link between early pregnancies and abortions performed in poor conditions.
According to 2008 data, about three million terminations of pregnancy are practiced annually in women between 15 and 19 years of age without appropriate medical conditions.
WHO highlights that early pregnancies are also dangerous for babies, with rates of neonatal deaths, in the first week and in the first month of up to 50% higher in adolescents than in women between 20 and 29 years. WHO explains in a document that
The younger the mother, the greater the risk. The rates of premature births, low birth weight and asphyxiation of the baby are higher among teenagers' children; All these conditions increase the probability of death or future health problems for the baby.
It should also be borne in mind that adolescent girls have a greater tendency to alcoholism and smoking than older women, which affects the health of babies.
To this we must add the social consequences of teenage pregnancies, especially in the case of single girls, with high drop-out rates and, therefore, educational development and contribution to the growth of the economy.
WHO warns that pregnancies in single adolescents in poor and developing countries often lead to violence and is increasingly associated with a possible cause of suicide among pregnant girls.
To address the problem, WHO recommends stop marriages of children under 18, reduce the number of pregnancies of women under 20, promote the use of contraceptive methods, reduce forced sex among adolescents and combat abortions in poor sanitary conditions.
Ultimately, if in the first world the problems faced by a teenage mother are rather psychosocial and physicists are more easily controlled, in developing countries teenage pregnancies and deliveries continue to cause many deaths a year. A tragic situation that could be largely prevented.
