Number of Teenage Mothers Increasing

Based on the result of the tabulation from the Decentralized Vital Statistics System (DVSS) of the Philippine Statistics Authority, teenage mothers in Mountain Province reached 169 in the 1st semester of 2022. This is 74.23 percent higher than the recorded number of teenage mothers in the same semester of 2021. In the 1st semester of 2020, the figure is at 177.

About Four in Every Ten Teenage Mothers are Listed in Bauko

By municipality, Bauko recorded the highest number of teenage moms at 76 in the 1st semester of 2022. This comprises 44.97 percent of all the registered teenage moms in the province. This is followed by Paracelis at 59 teenage mothers. The registered births in these 2 municipalities comprises 79.88 percent of the total teenage mothers listed in the province. In the same semester of 2021, Bauko is still the municipality with the highest number of teenage mothers.

Sabangan is the only municipality with no reported teenage mothers for the semester.

13-Year-Old Girl- Youngest Mother

The youngest age of a mother that gave birth in the first semester of 2022 is 13 years old. In the same semester last year, the youngest age of a mother that gave birth is 14 years old.

According to birth order, the youngest mother who already gave birth to her 2nd child is 16 years old; for her 3rd child is 17 years old while the youngest who already bore her 4th child is 20 years old.

In the same semester of 2021, the youngest mother who bore her 2nd child is still 16 years old while the youngest to give birth for her 3rd child is 18 years old.

Males Slightly Outnumbered Females in Terms of Registered Births

According to sex, it is noted that there are more males that were born in the province in the 1st semester of 2022 at 974 births. This is 3.95 percent higher than the female births.

The difference of male births to their female counterparts in Bauko, Bontoc and Natonin contributed to the higher number of male births in the province. Bontoc registered 25 more males than females while Bauko and Natonin have 17 and 12 more boys than girls respectively.

It is also observed that Sadanga posted the highest number of female difference as it registered 8 more female than male births while Tadian has 6 more girls than boys. Sabangan registered the same number of male and female births.

About Three in Every Four Births are Registered Timely

Of the 1,911 registered births in the province in the 1st semester of 2022, 1,423 births or 74.46 percent are registered timely. Bauko having the highest number of births recorded 828 timely registered births. Five municipalities- Barlig, Natonin, Paracelis, Sabangan and Tadian have more late than timely registrations.

Paracelis on the other hand has the highest number of late registrations for birth. Of the 336 births registered in this municipality, 217 births are late registrations. This is far higher compared to the births registered late in the different municipalities in the province.

According to sex, 74.74 percent of the male births are registered timely while 74.17 percent of the female births are also registered timely.

About Three in Every Ten Births in the Province are Illegitimate

Of the 1,911 births in the province in the 1st semester of 2022, 620 births or 32.44 percent are illegitimate. This means that about 3 in every 10 babies were born out of wedlock.

It is also noted that Paracelis has the highest proportion of legitimate babies. Of the total births registered in this municipality for the 1st semester, 40.18 percent are illegitimate.

Categorizing by sex, illegitimate births is higher among female babies than males. 32.98 percent of all the female births registered in the 1st semester of this year are illegitimate. In comparison, 31.93 percent of all male births are also born to unmarried parents. It is also noted that there are more illegitimate female births in Sabangan and Tadian than the legitimate babies.

About Three in Every Ten Births are First Born

According to birth order, 29.41 percent are first born children. This translates to about three in every ten births in the province in the 1st semester this year are first born. In addition, 26.06 percent are 2nd born and 19.36 percent are third born babies.

It is also observed that there is one who gave birth to her 12th child and this is recorded in the municipality of Bauko.

In addition, there is a 22-year-old lady who gave birth to her 5th child; a 26-year-old woman who bore her 6th child; and a 27-year-old woman who gave birth to her 7th child.

About Seven in Every Ten Births in the Province Are Attended by a Physician

Of the total number of births registered in the province, 68.18 percent are attended by physicians; 3.35 percent are attended by midwives and 2.72 percent are attended by nurses. The remaining percentage is either attended by hilot/ unlicensed midwives and others.

About Three in Every Ten Mothers Who Gave Birth are 25 to 29 Years Old

Of the total women who gave birth in the 1st semester of 2022, 26.69 percent are under the age group 25 to 29 years old. This is followed by age group 30 to 34 years old at 21.51 percent and age group 20 to 24 years old at 20.88 percent.

According to single year, the highest number of mothers who gave birth this semester is aged 25 years old at 127 births. This means that about 7 in every 100 women who gave birth this semester are aged 25 years old.

The oldest mother who bore a child this semester is 49 years old.

____________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________

Live Birth- the complete expulsion or extraction of a product of conception from its mother, irrespective of the duration of pregnancy, which after such separation, breathes or shows any other evidence of life, such as beating of the heart, pulsation of the umbilical cord, or definite movement of voluntary muscles, whether the umbilical cord has been cut off or the placenta is still attached.

____________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________