CPD: Every pregnancy involving a girl aged 10 to 14 signals a failure to protect children
DAVAO CITY (August 27) — The Davao Region is seeing more girls aged 10 to 14 become pregnant, prompting population and health authorities to warn that the numbers point to a deeper child-protection crisis.
There were 284 pregnancies among girls aged 10 to 14 in 2024, up from 240 in 2022, according to Civil Registration and Vital Statistics data from the Philippine Statistics Authority presented by the Commission on Population and Development (CPD)-Davao.
But for CPD-Davao Regional Director Jeff Y. Fuentes, the most disturbing number is not the increase itself.
It is that children this young are becoming pregnant at all.
“Even a single case of a 10 to 14-year-old getting pregnant is already alarming,” Fuentes said during the Healthy Davao Media Forum on Aug. 24 at SM City Davao.
“This is not purely a health issue, but a social protection issue. As a society, we are failing in protecting our children.”
Children, not just adolescent mothers
The data also raise questions about who is getting these girls pregnant.
Among cases where the father’s age was reported, 87 percent involved adults, with many aged 18 to 21 and some aged 35 or older. The paternal age was available in only 52 percent of the reported cases.
The figures underscore why authorities are treating early pregnancy among very young adolescents as a child-protection concern rather than simply a reproductive-health issue.
Fuentes identified Santa Cruz, Pantukan and Carmen in Davao del Sur, Davao de Oro and Davao del Norte, respectively, as areas needing closer attention.
He urged local governments to identify high-risk barangays so interventions can be concentrated where children are most vulnerable.
The challenge is not simply preventing pregnancy. It is identifying the circumstances that put children at risk and ensuring that protection systems respond before abuse, exploitation or an unwanted pregnancy occurs.
Pregnancy can become a medical emergency
For girls who do become pregnant, the risks do not end with the social consequences.
Dr. Victoria Millet Carin-Andan of the Southern Philippines Medical Center’s Department of Obstetrics and Gynecology said adolescent mothers face higher risks of serious pregnancy complications.
“Eclampsia and pre-eclampsia are more common in the extremes of age — those under 18 and over 35 years old,” Carin-Andan said.
Adolescent patients may present with high blood pressure, pre-eclampsia and severe bleeding—conditions that can quickly become life-threatening.
Pre-eclampsia, characterized by dangerously high blood pressure and possible organ damage during pregnancy, can progress to eclampsia, which may cause seizures, coma and other severe complications.
In a region where severe hypertension and hemorrhage remain among the major causes of maternal deaths, preventing adolescent pregnancy is therefore also a maternal-health priority.
Support must continue after delivery
Health officials say intervention cannot stop once a young mother gives birth.
SPMC provides pre-conception and family planning counseling on weekdays and has established a Center for Teensserving young people aged 10 to 18.
The hospital has also piloted a “Teen Dads” program to reach young fathers. Nurse Sarah Jane Sanchez said the program currently counsels about five to 10 adolescent fathers each month.
Social worker Mariabel F. Pandapatan Lukodo said the teen center also works to help young mothers return to school and coordinates with municipal social workers through inter-agency referrals for home visits and community monitoring after discharge.
Beyond SPMC, teen centers are being established in schools and barangays, while Department of Health-certified adolescent-friendly health facilities provide counseling, family planning and follow-up services.
But the rising number of pregnancies among girls as young as 10 shows that services alone may not be enough.
The region needs stronger prevention, earlier identification of children at risk, closer barangay-level monitoring and faster coordination among schools, health workers, social workers and child-protection authorities.
Because when a 10-, 11-, 12-, 13- or 14-year-old becomes pregnant, the question should not begin with what the child did.
It should begin with who failed to protect her—and how the system can make sure it does not happen again.
