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Plunge in the number of babies born to teens as youth get more savvy about contraception

2024-01-21 00:00:00.0 海峡时报-新加坡原网页

SINGAPORE - The number of babies born to teenagers has halved in the past decade, and counsellors say this is largely because today’s teens are a lot more savvy about using contraception.

In 2022, 218 babies were born to teens aged 19 and younger.

This is fewer than half of the 487 babies born to teenagers in 2013, according to the Report on Registration of Births and Deaths 2022 published by the Immigration and Checkpoints Authority. The 2022 figures are the latest available.

Meanwhile, when The Straits Times asked the Health Ministry about teen abortions in the past decade, a spokesman said the incidence rate of abortions has remained largely unchanged at about two in 1,000 teens from 2018 to 2022.

The issue of teen pregnancy came up during a recent court case where a 15-year-old girl became pregnant after having sex with a 14-year-old boy. Concealing the pregnancy from their parents, they tried to abort the foetus on their own.

Their methods, which they found online, included the girl inserting a clothes hanger into her body in an attempt to pull the foetus out, taking abortion pills, and having her abdomen punched and kneed by the boy.

The girl gave birth to a stillborn son in 2021.

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She kept the body of her stillborn child in her cabinet for two days before burying him in the garden of her house at her boyfriend’s instigation.

In December 2023, the boy was found guilty of sexual penetration of a minor and abetting the girl in concealing the birth by burying the child. The boy, who is now 18, is awaiting sentencing.

ST understands that the girl has been given a conditional warning for her role in the case.

Counsellors said a key reason behind the fall in the number of teen mums is that today’s young people are more savvy about using contraception.

Ms Shazana Sharif, a social worker at AMP Singapore, a non-profit serving the Muslim community, said: “Generally, there has been an improvement in teens’ knowledge and the use of contraception compared to previous generations.

“Increased access to information through the Internet, comprehensive sex education programmes, and greater awareness of contraception methods have contributed to teenagers being more informed.”

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Counsellors said the falling numbers should not be interpreted as fewer teens having sex.

In fact, teens are starting to be sexually active at a younger age, and some counsellors even see pregnant teens as young as 13 asking for help, they said.

Ms Lena Teo, director of programmes and services at Care Singapore, which helps at-risk youth, said that with the proliferation of social media and online pornography, sexual behaviour has become normalised.

She added: “To certain groups of youth – but not for all teens – they want to appear cool, to be in the know, and they are looking for acceptance (from their friends).

“It is seen as cool to have sexual experience, especially for the boys. For the girls, they feel they are loved and wanted if they have a boyfriend, and it’s like their sense of self-worth goes up.”

But in the event of a pregnancy, counsellors said, some teens try to terminate it without going to a doctor for various reasons.

They fear the repercussions if their parents, school or the authorities were to find out about the pregnancy.

For example, the male partner could be afraid of getting into trouble with the law if it is known that the girl is pregnant, said Mrs Jennifer Heng, director of Safe Place, which helps pregnant women in distress.