In just two months, January and February, there have been 414 new adolescent mothers at the Cabral y Baez Hospital in Santiago de los Caballeros. This represents fully 31% of all births recorded at the hospital during this period. These are births to females under the age of 18 years old. Each day, according to statistics from the regional university hospital, thirty adolescents seek medical care at the Pregnant Adolescent Unit, according to doctor Johanny Rodriguez, the unit’s director. At least six of Monday’s consults had had at least one previous pregnancy. According to the doctor, “parents have little communication with their daughters and, just like their teachers, handle sex education as if it were a taboo.”
In January there were 19 babies born to girls under the age of fifteen. There were 235 babies born to girls between the ages of 15 and 19, and of these, seven died at birth. According to the gynecologist, most of the young girls became pregnant after sex with adults.