Pregnancy changes the life of an adolescent girl drastically. Besides ending opportunities to education, it puts her and her baby's life at risk. In fact, younger the mother, greater is the risk to the baby. Babies born to mothers under 20 years of age face a 50% higher risk of being stillborn or dying in the first few weeks versus those born to mothers aged 20-29 in low- and middle-income countries. Infants born to adolescent mothers are also more likely to have low birth weight, which carries the risk of long-term adverse health effects.
With little or no access to contraception, young girls lack control over their bodies. According to estimates, one in three deaths related to pregnancy and childbirth could be avoided if all women had access to contraceptive services. Studies have shown that as many as 50% of pregnancies are unplanned, and 25% are unintended. Young women account for a far higher percentage of all 3.6 million unsafe abortions that take place each year than of pregnancies overall. In Pakistan, nongovernmental organisations found child brides in the province of Sindh using rat poison to terminate pregnancies, with fatal consequences at times.
Why do these young girls and women need to die? If governments invested in contraception, money spent on unplanned births and abortions could be reduced substantially. According to a UNFPA-Guttmacher Institute study, each dollar spent on contraception would bring down the total expenditure by $1.40 by cutting down on money spent on unplanned births and abortions. Every woman would get quality maternal and newborn care and the unmet need for family planning would also be taken care of by an additional investment of $12 billion a year. While this may seem like a big investment, the long-term gains are huge: unintended pregnancies can be reduced by more than 66%; 70% of maternal deaths can be prevented; 44% of newborn deaths can be averted; and unsafe abortion can be reduced by 73%.
So if countries invested in their youth, their economies could actually get good returns, said Horibe. "Sexual and reproductive health and rights are pivotal to young people's realization of their full potential and their productivity. When young people are healthy and educated, countries can reap a demographic dividend which can help reduce poverty," she said. But unless governments invest now, attaining full potential and productivity may remain a dream for a child of 10 in 2015 who will be an adult of 25 in 2030, the target year for achieving the next generation of sustainable development goals.
Swapna Majumdar, CNS
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