Teenage Pregnancy, what is its Impact on Latin America?

Abstract

Adolescent pregnancy in the world has an incidence rate of 41 per thousand women between 15 and 19 years of age; however, in the Latin American and Caribbean region these figures are higher, reaching at least 67 per thousand women and unlike the global trend, it is expected that in the region this value will continue to rise. Through various studies it has been identified that the risk factors associated with the occurrence of this event are mainly low schooling and low socioeconomic level, early initiation of sexual relations, among others. Additionally, it has been established that adolescent pregnancy brings with it risks to the health of both the woman and the newborn, but even more worrisome it leads to the perpetuation of poverty, to a decrease in schooling in the long term and therefore to a lower income expectation among women who have children before the age of 20. Individual interventions have not been able to demonstrate significant changes in the decrease in adolescent birth rates, since as it is a multifactorial problem, it must be addressed with multidisciplinary interventions. Through this review, it is intended to expand all the aspects and nuances associated with this problem and to clarify which are the most effective mechanisms to generate an impact on the reduction of adolescent births. Since it is a multifactorial problem, it must be addressed with multidisciplinary interventions. Through this review, it is intended to expand all the aspects and nuances associated with this problem and to clarify which are the most effective mechanisms to generate an impact on the reduction of adolescent births. Since it is a multifactorial problem, it must be addressed with multidisciplinary interventions. Through this review, it is intended to expand all the aspects and nuances associated with this problem and to clarify which are the most effective mechanisms to generate an impact on the reduction of adolescent births.