Dip in number of teenage mums

Counsellors say more teens are having sex, but they are also more aware of birth control

By Theresa Tan, Candice Neo, The Straits Times, 13 May 2012

In a sign that sexuality education may be getting part of its message through, the number of teenage mothers fell to its lowest in a decade last year.

According to provisional figures from the Immigration and Checkpoints Authority (ICA), 623 babies were born to girls aged 19 and below last year, a 35 per cent drop from 953 in 2000.

Teen abortions are also on the wane, with 991 performed on girls aged 19 and below last year, a 43 per cent plunge from 1,730 in 2000. Last year's figure is also the lowest since 2000, data obtained from the Health Ministry showed.

Counsellors who work with youth say the declining figures are welcome news but in no way mean that fewer teens are having sex - in fact, they say, the contrary is true.

The trend in births and abortions indicates instead that sexually active youngsters are more aware of the use of birth control.

Counsellors also pointed to other worrying trends: Teens are becoming more casual about sex and starting to experiment at an ever younger age - 12 or 13 for some.

Social media such as Facebook and other sites have made it easier for young people to meet and some have short-lived sexual relationships with multiple partners, said counsellors.

A survey released on Thursday by the Singapore Planned Parenthood Association (SPPA) found that more teens are having sex.

Almost half, or 46.1 per cent, of the 15- to 20-year-olds who responded to the online poll in 2010 said they had engaged in sexual activity, compared with 3.4 per cent of the 12- to 21-years-old surveyed in person in schools in 1999.

The association acknowledged that the survey, taken voluntarily by about 1,800 Singaporeans and permanent residents aged between 15 and 66 on their sexual habits, did not provide a representative sample.

But SPPA vice-president Edward Ong said the findings matched what counsellors were seeing, and parents and schools could do more to teach children about contraception.

Today's teens feel that sex must be part of a relationship, said Ain Society youth worker Shida Daeng. 'They feel this way as all their friends feel this way,' she said.

But those who work with teens acknowledge that sexually active teens are more aware of how to prevent unwanted pregnancies and sexually transmitted infections (STIs) through the use of condoms. The number of teens infected with STIs has also been falling since 2007.

In 2007, prompted by concerns over the growing number of teens infected with STIs and HIV, the Education Ministry and Health Promotion Board (HPB) introduced a sexuality education programme called Breaking Down Barriers in secondary schools, followed by junior colleges and centralised institutes in 2009. While abstinence remains a key message, the programme educates students about STIs.

More recently, the HPB has introduced a new programme, Youth Matters, 'teaching youths about building healthy relationships, negotiation skills and the dangers of contracting STI/HIV through casual sex', said its director of Youth Health, Dr K. Vijaya.

Youth Matters is taught in places such as institutionalised homes, family service centres and some schools. It differs from Breaking Down Barriers in that it is targeted at sexually active youngsters, while Breaking Down Barriers is for all Secondary 3 and first-year junior college and centralised institute students.

Though Youth Matters also stresses abstinence, the programme touches on condom use too. Participants are made to reflect on and hopefully understand the consequences of their actions, said counsellors interviewed.

They feel teenagers are likely to have pre-marital sex, even when advised repeatedly to abstain from it.

One counsellor told The Sunday Times she knew of a 12-year-old who had an abortion, while others have seen 14-year-olds choosing to give birth.

The seven-year-old helpline, Babes, provides support and counselling to pregnant teens, and most of the 30 to 40 teenagers it sees every year decide to keep their babies.

Usually, these are older girls who have the support of their families or their boyfriends' families, said Ms Lim Shaw Hui, who oversees the programme at Beyond Social Services.

Still, it is a struggle being a child with a child, she said. Many of these families have difficulties providing for an additional mouth and the girls struggle with the responsibilities of motherhood.

Those still studying also have to stop school until they deliver their child, Ms Lim added. Most of the time, younger teens between the ages of 13 and 15 who fall pregnant end up aborting their pregnancies.

To reach out to more pregnant teens, Babes is re-launching its website next month which would include more avenues of communication, such as a Facebook page and live chats with a Babes worker.

The PCS Home, a shelter for pregnant women of all ages, is currently housing three pregnant teens. Most will give their babies up for adoption, said manager Karen Vincent.

While pregnant teens come from all socio-economic groups, those who seek help are often from poorer or dysfunctional families, counsellors said.

But regardless of their families' finances, these teens share a common trait - they do not have good relationships with their parents, counsellors noted.

Dr Carol Balhetchet, director of Youth Services at the Singapore Children's Society, said: 'These kids are looking for love in the wrong places. They are not close to their parents so they look for love and intimacy outside their family.'

If you are pregnant and need help, you can call the following numbers.

8111-3535
BABES: An SMS helpline for pregnant teens
Website: www.babes.org.sg

6339-9770
PREGNANCY CRISIS SERVICE: A helpline for pregnant women of all ages in crisis

1800-6868-623
PROJECT CHERUB: A helpline for pregnant women of all ages in crisis

ONE ABORTION, ONE BABY AND ONLY 17

Crystal (not her real name) started having sex at 15 and became pregnant almost immediately. Then it happened again.

Fearful that her father would disown her or force her to marry her boyfriend, she had an abortion the first time - a decision which still haunts her.

Now 17, she said: 'A mother is supposed to give life and not kill her baby. I will always remember how I killed my first baby.'

She said her boyfriend was a few years older, did not have a steady job and refused to use a condom. Still, the guilt and trauma she experienced did not stop her from resuming sex with the same boyfriend.

About six months after her abortion, she became pregnant again. Her boyfriend told her to end the pregnancy again, but she could not bring herself to do it this time.

'I could feel the baby kicking,' she said.

She tried to hide her pregnancy from her middle-class parents but her mother discovered her swelling belly and wanted her to have an abortion. But by then, her pregnancy had progressed beyond the 24 weeks when it could be terminated legally.

Crystal, whose relationship with her busy parents has not been good for years, felt her mother then rejected her.

To keep her father in the dark about her pregnancy, she is now staying with a friend until she delivers and gives the baby up for adoption. She has also stopped attending school temporarily, and has given little thought about her future.

She said: 'I know whoever adopts my baby will give my child a good life.'

FALL IN NUMBER WITH SEX INFECTIONS

The number of teens diagnosed with sexually transmitted infections (STIs) has fallen from a record high in 2007 - though it is still more than twice the number diagnosed a decade ago.

In 2010, 619 youngsters from 10 to 19 years old were diagnosed at the DSC Clinic, down from 820 in 2007. Last year's numbers are not yet available. The clinic is run by the National Skin Centre's Department of STI Control and is a specialist outpatient clinic for sex infections.

A clinic spokesman attributed the fall in infections to greater awareness of STIs and safe sexual behaviour among young people.

Previously, the number of teens with STIs such as chlamydia and gonorrhoea rose steadily from 2001 to 2007. The 'vast majority' were older teens, said the spokesman, though it has seen children as young as 13.

From 1985 to 2004, 17 teens - 13 boys and four girls - aged between 15 and 19 were diagnosed with the human immunodeficiency virus (HIV) that causes Aids. But from 2005 until June last year, 33 teens - 28 boys and five girls - were diagnosed with HIV, according to Health Ministry statistics.

In 2010, the DSC Clinic included an animated clip on its website to show how to use a condom correctly, after staff noticed that most young people having sex might not have 'proper knowledge' of this.

Its spokesman said: 'While it is important to stress that abstinence is the only sure way to protect oneself against STIs, it is also important to equip youths who have decided to engage in sex with accurate knowledge on how to put on a condom correctly so that they are aware of how to protect themselves against STIs or unwanted pregnancies.'

Other doctors and counsellors observed that today's young people know much more about condom use, hence the declining number of teen infections, but they felt that more than 600 a year was still a sizeable figure.

Dr Tan Kok Kuan, of Dr Tan & Partners, said: 'Young people are more confident and well versed about sexual issues. At 17 or 18, they are actually quite knowledgeable about protection.'

Doctors said teens who get infected generally have had more than one or two sex partners. Some are infected by sex workers.

DSC Clinic data shows about twice as many teenage girls are diagnosed as boys.

This is because girls are biologically more susceptible to getting infected, and more girls than boys are screened for STIs. They also tend to mature earlier and may be sexually active at an earlier age.

Doctors also noted that girls tend to have older partners who have had more sexual partners, and that puts them at greater risk too.