The biggest killer of teenage girls is....

Let's agree to disagre. :O)

hope you had a great weekend ..

Brit, first of all I don't think there are "many" women out there who go and have multiple abortions. I think they are a minority, and frankly if a woman looks at an abortion as an "easy" choice for contraception, she's a few bricks short of a full load and shouldn't be having babies in the first place!

Those people who legalize abortion should be the first to be guilty! And may I know where is abortion legal?

Let's be honest. Many women have multiple abortions and do look upon it as an easy way out..Others make a difficult choice and live with it for the rest of their lives ..

One word 'Condom'

I'm sorry, but why are people under the impression that an abortion is an easy way out? Have you personally had your uterus's scraped out? Or dealt with the guilt of having to abort a child? Or carried an unwanted child for 9 months?

Given that you're both men, I would say the answer is no.

Contraception is not only for married couples. Let's be realistic, you cannot really stop people from having sex, so at least they can avoid unwanted pregnancies by using contraceptives. Even here you can freely buy contraceptives without them asking for a marriage certificate.Though it sounds so ideal to avoid sex while you're single but that's not the case nowadays.

in his last comment!

the people who taught these children that sex is "good". Who usually they idolizes. Where do they see sex as an open subject. There are so many hypocrites here. What should be taught is refrain from sex outside marriage, not contraception. Contraception are for married people, not unmarried people.

If you eliminate the easy ways out options ( abortion ) then they may think twice.

I'm not against contraceptives.It's better to be safe than sorry.Men should know the fact that if their wives are too young to bear a child then they must not be in a hurry for a baby. Since they can't stop their selves from having sex then use contraceptives.

They need the option Brit. Education takes far too long.

"The girls these reports are talking about don't have a choice. They are forced by their husbands to engage in sex, and they end up pregnant."

I would agree. However, these girls are also "expected" to produce offspring quickly. By covertly taking contraception, they will put themselves in danger of abuse and possible divorce.

And again then the parents/guardians of these girls then need to be educated as do the couple to be wed. And forced marriages should be wiped off..period!

The first two comments on the article, when I first read and posted, on DM were quite interesting...:) Not sure if they are still there!!!

The girls these reports are talking about don't have a choice. They are forced by their husbands to engage in sex, and they end up pregnant.

This isn't about teenagers who willingly fool around, this is about girls in developing countries with no choice.

If they had access to contraception, they would have more control.

But if you were educated enough you won't do what's risky in the first place. The problem with a lot of teenagers is sadly as mature as their desires are, their knowledge of the consequences of their actions can be very low.

All the education in the world won't do a thing if you don't have access to contraception.

Without the right education teenage girls are all at risks, married or unmarried.

This is from the actual report, which deals with girls who have no control over their own reproduction. Most girls in the UK don't fall into that category Brit, as they have access to contraception:

*******************************************************

However, contraception is not easily available for many. Some 222 million women around the world who don't want to get pregnant currently don't have access to contraception. This year, an estimated 80 million unintended or mistimed pregnancies will occur in developing countries.

"As a mother, I know how valuable that recovery time after giving birth can be. What is more surprising is that delaying the next pregnancy dramatically reduces the risk of complications and death for newborns and mothers, which is critical," said Save the Children's President & CEO, Carolyn Miles.

"We encourage families to let their daughters complete school and delay marriage since those early pregnancies can be a death sentence. Our report highlights the important role of health workers in providing contraception to help families space births and how more years of education can help delay marriage – both of which save children's lives," Miles said.

World leaders are congregating in London next month for a family planning summit hosted by the UK government and the Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation. This comes on the heels of a global Call to Action to end preventable child deaths within a generation, hosted by USAID with the governments of India and Ethiopia in mid-June. Save the Children is calling for policymakers to endorse this bold goal and sees family planning as a key part of the solution along with other investments in health, nutrition and girls education.

Meeting the entire global need for contraception could prevent 30 percent of maternal deaths and 20 percent of neonatal deaths in the developing world – potentially saving 649,000 lives a year.

"The U.S. has been a leader in helping to cut by nearly half the number of children who die each year from preventable or treatable causes. We need to keep investing in programs that we know save children's lives," Miles said.

The report also highlights:

Globally, one in five girls will have had a child by the age of 18.

Young mothers are likely to be poor, less educated and living in rural areas.

A woman's lifetime risk of maternal death – the probability that a 15 year old girl will ultimately die from a maternal cause – is 1 in 3,800 in developed countries but 1 in 150 in developing countries.

A national survey in Nigeria in 2005 found almost a third of women believed that certain methods of contraception could lead to female infertility.

Every $1 spent on family planning saves at least $4 that would be spent treating pregnancy-related complications.

http://www.savethechildren.org/site/apps/nlnet/content2.aspx?c=8rKLIXMGIpI4E&b=6248025&ct=11917227¬oc=1

How does 13 year old girl married to older man not equal girl ends up pregnant?

Since when did married couples NOT have sex.

The stats are there, and it isn't the teenage girls in England dying.

Enforced marriages are wrong. However, i don't believe that it neccessarily means that it correlates to pregnancies. The UK has the highest rate of teenage pregnancies in Europe and we have freely available contraception.

The answer has to be education.

In fact, it's at the heart of this because the girls who are dying are usually child brides:

http://www.guardian.co.uk/society/sarah-boseley-global-health/2012/jun/27/contraception-and-family-planning-maternal-mortality?newsfeed=true

Childbirth is the leading killer of adolescent girls in Africa, according to UN figures. Worldwide, one in five girls give birth before they turn 18, according to the report.

The charity called for equal access to family planning for all women; for women's rights to be guaranteed and enshrined in law; and for investment in education and health workers.

If that were achieved, the report claims that 30 percent of maternal deaths and 20 percent of neo-natal deaths in the developing world could be prevented.

http://www.gmanetwork.com/news/story/263283/pinoyabroad/worldfeatures/global-scandal-50-000-teenagers-die-yearly-due-to-pregnancy-childbirth-complications

They go hand in hand flor. If you force children into marriage, they generally end up pregnant.

not forced marriage. While it is prevalent on developing country, it is also a very serious problem in the west or in developed nations since the "freedom" of youths in these countries are usually abused.

keep it up......

I think it has to be up to her Brit. All of her decisions have been taken from her. She needs the choice.

Taking your example. the simple fact is that by "privately" taking contraception, the girl may put herself in danger from her husband and relatives. There are a lot of cultural issues at play and its not as straight forward.

Brit, when I say provide contraception without the knowledge of parents or guardians I'm thinking of these girls forced into arranged marriages. They have no control over when they have children. If they had contraception available to them, they would have that option.

Prism, girls in forced marriages are more likely to be forced to become pregnant, than girls who are having sex because they want to. So it's ok for married girls to die in childbirth?

Time is a circle we are running fast thinking we are going ahead but instead we are getting back to olden ages :P

'avoid sex at all' ....NOT POSSIBLE !

avoid sex without condom or avoid sex at all.

I just think the Governments needs to enforce the legal age to get married law more strongly. That should solve the problem on every level religious or otherwise.

Contraception being made available to teens is without parents knowledge is worrying but since teens will be teens they will do what they like even without parent's knowledge so I think its better safe than sorry.

Child marriage or forced (arranged) marraige seem to be a lesser evil than the situations where the kids jump into bed for fun without understanding or knowledge of the consequences.

Whilst I would agree that more needs to be done, I personaly find it worrying when contraception is made ailable to teens without knowledge of parents / guardians etc.

agree nad023 and Miss Mimi

Agree nad. Many men assume that just because a girl has started her period, she's ready to give birth. Sadly that's not true.

Educating men is more important than educating girls because in most of the developing world a man has the last word.Sad but true.

Education isn't going to help girls in forced marriages Tink. While education is the answer in the West for unplanned teenage pregnancies, in places were child marriage is common there needs to be a way for these girls to get contraception without husbands or families permission or knowledge.