Pregnancy is the biggest killer for teenage girls

Save the Children shines a light on the risks of teenage pregnancy

di Staff

Pregnancy is the first cause of death for teenage girls. It has been revealed by the latest Save the Children report, “How family planning saves children’s lives”. The report denounced that 50 thousand teenagers die each year due to pregnancy and childbirth complications, while nearly one million babies born to teenage mothers die each year before their first birthday.

According to the report  more than 25 thousand girls under 18 are married every day and, around the world, one in five girls are teenage mothers, which means that they have given birth to a child before they turn 18. Girls under 15 are five times more likely to die in pregnancy than women in their twenties. “The issue of children having children – and dying because their bodies are too immature to deliver the baby – is a global scandal,” said Save the Children’s chief executive Justin Forsyth. Developing countries face the most worrying situation, as girls are often forced to get married very young and as Forsyth mentioned “family planning isn’t just a lifestyle choice”.

The report highlighted the importance of family planning for all women, calling for women’s rights to be guaranteed and recognized by the law and for investment in education and health workers. According to the report, these measures could help prevent 30 percent of maternal deaths and 20 percent of neo-natal deaths in the developing world.  A family planning summit will be hosted by the British government and it will gather together world leaders in London on 11 July.


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