Mr.

Kyle Menig

Prof. Grabhorn

H SC 425i

Wed. 4pm

Nov. 2, 2005

Teenage Pregnancy in Peru

Introduction

This world is constantly changing. There is always something interesting to talk about when discussing current events. Often times, we look at these events in a cultural context: where, what, and why is this event taking place? Classifications are brought up such as “western society” or “third world.” Geopolitics and other related fields separate the world into three classifications: developing-country, less-developed-country, and developed-country. People that live in the developed-world take many things for granted, including access to healthcare; access to food; and access to an education. The availability of such necessities helps our society advance in our knowledge and way-of-life. Yet, the availability of these things cannot fully solve our society’s problems. Many citizens of the United States, for example, can’t afford to eat at night or go to the hospital to cure an illness.

If the developed-world experiences many problems even with the availability of useful information and resources, what is scope of the problems facing less-developed-countries? Embedded in the tropical forests of South America lies the country of Peru. Peru is about the size of Alaska and ranked fortieth in the world in total population (CIA, 2005). Peruvians live in the rural forests and in large metropolitan areas such as Lima, the capital city. Within the structured hierarchy of complexity, Peru is ranked as a less-developed country.

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Services afforded to Peruvians are related to where the Peruvians live. The large metropolitan areas have more services than rural areas. For example, secondary school is attended by only two-thirds of the population. Many rural students do not have easy access to a secondary school. One other problem facing Peruvians involve health issues. Barely eighty percent of the population has access to improved drinking water sources and sixty percent access to adequately sanitized facilities (Lahmeyer, 2004). These issues continue to improve with new government policies.

Despite the differences between developmentally categorized countries, the people of Peru also experience problems that are similar to people in developed-countries. For example, teenage pregnancy is a problem that affects Peruvian youth. The purpose of this paper is to examine the causes and effects; the approaches and solutions; and the statistics involved with teenage pregnancy in Peru. This paper will also compare teenage pregnancy in Peru to teenage pregnancy in countries that are labeled as developed.

As many college students are still in their teens, pregnancy is an issue that all should be familiarized with. A big responsibility for a college student is getting a research paper such as this one completed on time. As imagined, bringing a child into the world is a much larger responsibility than a research paper. College is a time for learning and socializing; one should be aware of health issues such as sexually transmitted infections and teen pregnancy.

How common is this problem?

To see how deep the problem of teenage pregnancy is in Peru, simple math can give us an estimate of how many young Peruvian females are mothers. The population of Peru has grown from just over 20 million residents in 1993 to more than 27 million in 2001. Both men and

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women make up 50 percent of the population (CIA, 2005). Also, young people ages 0 to 19 account for roughly 45 percent of the entire population. There are 53 births for every 1000 Peruvian females aged 15-19 (Lahmeyer, 2004). When we plug these numbers into a formula, we find these estimates: 310,000 or 6 percent of Peruvian teenage females become mothers. This estimate is further confirmed by the United States Department of Commerce Economics and Administration (USDCEA, 1999): 6.2 percent for the year 2000.

The problem of teenage pregnancy cannot be understood just by observing the estimate number. It is important to also understand the reasons for such high rates. Reasons for the high teenage pregnancy rates in Peru: poor socioeconomic status; the government’s attitudes towards contraceptives; and availability of educational resources.

The per capita income in Peru is the fourth highest amongst South American countries. 20 percent of the population lives on less than one-dollar per day (CIA, 2005). This socioeconomic barrier affects the teenage mother at many points during the pregnancy. First, the teenage mother is unable to afford proper contraceptives. The affordability of the contraceptives could have resulted in the teenage girl not becoming pregnant. Second, the young teenage girl cannot afford prenatal care while she is pregnant (Fraser, 2002). This may result in the young girl going about her pregnancy uneducated and could lead to further problems. Third, many Peruvian women are unable to afford a trip to the hospital in order to have their babies delivered. More than 50 percent of Peruvian births are done at home without the help of a midwife (Fraser, 2002). The socioeconomic status of Peru’s citizens is influenced by their government.

Similar to the United States, the government of Peru is a constitutional republic (CIA, 2005). The country is also 90 percent Catholic. For women who are pregnant and single, there is a

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social stigma that they must confront. This stigma is even more damaging to the woman if she is in her teen years. In the past, the Peruvian government had made it difficult to get access to proper contraceptives; this even after the woman was able to afford them. Often times, the moral beliefs of nurses and health officials make it difficult to receive help; for example, the morning after pill has been refused because of religious beliefs regarding when the baby was conceived (Fraser, 2002). Abortion is illegal in Peru as well. The act is punishable by up to three years in jail. Abortion is still punishable with jail time even if the abortion was for a pregnancy that was unwanted. For example, if the woman was raped. Article 393 of Peru’s civil code (Palomino, 1996) states: “Single mothers under the age of sixteen….do