Health care survey show teen pregnancies to be on a rise in India

For a country where sex before marriage is looked down upon as a heinous crime, teen pregnancy cases have not been slowing down. In fact cases of teen pregnancies in India are believed to be accelerating more than the western nations.

Early marriages, absence of proper sex education at school level leading teenagers to have unprotected sex and traditional gender roles are responsible chiefly for early pregnancies in young girls between 14 to 19 years.

Health care survey shared by the UN population fund (UNFPA) and statistics division, estimated 86 per 1000 women of age group 15 to 19 years, to have had teenage pregnancies in India. Another report from 2013, claims 7.3 million teens under the age of 18 gave birth to children, while the relative number of pregnancies is even higher as cultural constrictions push women to have more kids and hence girls often end up giving birth to several children before they even reach their mid-20. India topped the charts of 10 countries, with 11,875,182 pregnancies between 2000 and 2013 alone. Come to think of it, and the figures will disturbingly bring anyone to alarm. 

Further as per health care polls, 49 percent of teen girls were accounted in six countries alone, out of which India with 20 percent and China with 16 percent constituted one-thirds of global total. UNFPA has already predicted India to retain highest number of adolescent girl population. One can only imagine, in years to come, where Indian epidemic of teen pregnancy might stand going by this rate.

The effects of teen pregnancies are opposing. Young girls face extensive health threats due to advanced maternal and perinatal death. Apart from health threats, early child bearing is also linked with grave socio-economic and demographic implications. Doctors Health opinion on the matter is quite straightforward. In case of a teen pregnancy, both the mother and the child have a stern risk of death. 

What do you think could be the reason behind this constant and scary increase of teen pregnancies in India? Raise and ask your opinion on this issue on the trending opinion polling app Posticker. Give voice to your reasons and be vocal about what needs to be changed.