title: Early childbearing in Guatemala: a continuing challenge.
abstract: (1) Guatemala has the third highest adolescent birthrate in Central America-114 births for every 1,000 women aged 15-19 each year. (2) Only two-fifths of 20-24-year-old women have completed primary school. The proportion is one in four in rural areas and one in 10 among indigenous women. (3) One-half of young women enter into a union (formal or consensual) before their 20th birthday. Three-quarters of those with no schooling do so, compared with one-quarter of those with a primary education or more. (4) Forty-four percent of 20-24-year-olds were mothers by age 20; the proportion is highest among young women with no education (68%) and among indigenous women (54%). (5) The great majority of 15-19-year-old women in union-83%, with little variation by residence or ethnicity-do not want to have a child in the next two years. However, only 18% are using an effective contraceptive. (6) Although 70% of 15-24-year-olds who recently gave birth made at least one prenatal care visit, roughly half of the least educated and of indigenous women made none. Moreover, only half of 15-24-year-old mothers had professional medical care at their most recent delivery; the proportion is even lower among the least educated and indigenous women (one-quarter).
authors.affiliation: Ministerio de Salud Pública y Asistencia Social.
authors.forename: Werner
authors.initials: W
authors.lastname: Figueroa
authors.forename: Felipe
authors.initials: F
authors.lastname: Lopez
authors.forename: Lisa
authors.initials: L
authors.lastname: Remez
authors.forename: Elena
authors.initials: E
authors.lastname: Prada
authors.forename: Joanna
authors.initials: J
authors.lastname: Drescher
mesh_terms: D000293:Adolescent; D000294:Adolescent Behavior / Q000208:ethnology; D000328:Adult; D003268:Contraception Behavior / Q000208:ethnology / Q000706:statistics & numerical data; D004522:Educational Status; D005260:Female; D006166:Guatemala; D007722:Health Knowledge, Attitudes, Practice; D006291:Health Policy; D006801:Humans; D008423:Maternal Age; D011203:Poverty; D011247:Pregnancy; D011253:Pregnancy in Adolescence / Q000208:ethnology / Q000706:statistics & numerical data; D049168:Pregnancy, Unplanned / Q000208:ethnology; D011295:Prenatal Care; D012725:Sexual Behavior / Q000208:ethnology / Q000706:statistics & numerical data; D012959:Socioeconomic Factors