PETALING JAYA: Teenage pregnancy out of wedlock remains a largely unspoken moral dilemma in Malaysia’s conservative society. This makes collecting accurate statistics difficult.
The highly sensitive nature of unplanned teenage pregnancy means it is under reported and so any data available for analysis is bound to be skewed.
Not only that but the data analysis method used in Malaysia distorts the numbers we do have.
Dr John Teo, an obstetrician & gynaecologist from Kota Kinabalu, said teenage pregnancy statistics in Malaysia are calculated solely on the number of live teenage births. Abortions and miscarriages are not included in the pregnancy total.
“International data shows that globally 50% of unplanned pregnancies end in abortions, 38% end in births and 12% end in miscarriages,” he told FMT.
Most recent Malaysian data from the Ministry of Health indicates that there were 12,492 unwed teenage births in 2016. That’s 33% fewer births than in 2011.
“Sexual activity is increasing among teens, and younger girls are falling pregnant,” said Dr Teo. “But the total number of teenage births is decreasing, and we don’t know why. Is it because teens are using more contraceptives? Or are they having more abortions? We have no data to confirm or deny this.”
Recently, a Bernama article on the subject quoted obstetrician and gynaecologist Dr Aizura Syafinaz and psychologist Dr Aida Syarinaz, who said teenage pregnancy data is incomplete as most cases go unreported.
On average 18,000 teenage girls get pregnant each year, with approximately 25% of that number occurring out of wedlock, they said.
Citing 2015 data, Aizura said that illegitimate births in Malaysia are much higher than Singapore and Hong Kong. The data suggests that out of every 1,000 underage girls, 14 get pregnant in Malaysia compared to Singapore’s four, and Hong Kong’s three.
Teo argued that Singapore and Hong Kong are high income countries and so the disparity is to be expected. “The higher the income the lower the fertility rate,” he said.
Aizura also cited studies showing that most teen pregnancies in Malaysia involve girls from the urban poor, particularly those with single mothers, and those left unsupervised while their parents are at work.
Teo agreed. “Most unplanned teenage pregnancies recorded in Malaysia are unmarried teens from lower socio-economic groups. This may be because teens from richer families practise safer sex,” he said. “They may also start having sex later and have more access to sexual and reproductive health services.”
As one possible solution, he advocates age-appropriate Comprehensive Sexuality Education (CSE), based on the United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organisation (Unesco) recommendations.
“Age-appropriate CSE positively affects young people’s behaviour by delaying the start of sexual intercourse and decreasing risky sexual behaviour. Education also increases condom and other contraceptive use in those who are already sexually active. This decreases the incidence of unintended teenage pregnancies,” Teo explained.
He added that introducing CSE into schools will require discussion with affected communities, parents and religious bodies in order to shed light on fears about sexual education.
“Most of the CSE syllabus is compatible with religious teachings,” he said, adding that classroom change is needed as schools often teach reproductive biology but subjects like contraception are usually ignored.
According to Teo, statistics indicate that Sabah and Sarawak have the highest number of teenage pregnancies in Malaysia.
However, he noted future difficulties in implementing CSE effectively in those states.
“Rural schools are often remote and some are very small with only a few students. It would be a logistical challenge to bring CSE to them.”
Dr Subatra Jayaraj, Honorary Secretary of the Reproductive Rights Advocacy Alliance says that sexual abstinence is still the traditional advice to teenagers from many families, teachers and religious leaders. Unfortunately, this well-intentioned advice is often ineffective.
“Children from poorer families are especially disadvantaged as they may not receive adequate education about their sexuality. Also their parents themselves may not know how to guide them through the complexities of relationships and sex,” she told FMT.
“The children may end up seeking recognition and love elsewhere,” she said. “And we know where that can lead.” - FMT
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