WORLD HEALTH ORGANIZATION
Key facts
* About 16 million adolescent girls give birth every year – most in low- and middle-income countries.
* An estimated three million girls aged 15-19 undergo unsafe abortions every year.
* In low- and middle-income countries, complications from pregnancy and childbirth are a leading cause of death among girls aged 15-19 years.
* Stillbirths and newborn deaths are 50% higher among infants of adolescent mothers than among infants of women aged 20-29 years.
* Infants of adolescent mothers are more likely to have low birth weight.
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The causes
Several factors contribute to adolescent births.
In many societies, girls may be under pressure to marry and bear children early, or they may have limited educational and employment prospects.
In low- and middle-income countries, over 30% of girls marry before they are 18 years of age; around 14% before the age of 15. Moreover, married adolescents are likely to become pregnant and give birth in accordance with social norms. Education, on the other hand, is a major protective factor for early pregnancy: the more years of schooling, the fewer early pregnancies. Birth rates among women with low education are higher than for those with secondary or tertiary education.
World Health organization for more