Fertility and abortion rates among adolescents in Slovenia
Abstract
Background: Today’s adolescents are prone to earlier biological development and earlier and more frequent sexual activity. Insufficient knowledge and unawareness of safe sex are often the reasons for risky sexual behaviour and adverse consequences such as early adolescent pregnancy and unwanted pregnancy. The aim of the article is to present the trends in fertility and abortion rates of adolescents in Slovenia in the last three decades and to present internationally comparable data on fertility and abortion rates of adolescent. Methods: The data from official statistics and the published representative studies on fertility and induced abortion rates are presented. Results: The fertility rate of adolescents aged 15–19 years in Slovenia was 37.2/1000 in 1981 and decreased to 5.1/1000 in 2008. In 2008 the percentage of deliveries to adolescent mothers regarding all deliveries was only 1.3 %. The induced abortion rate in adolescents aged 15–19 years was 24.3/1000 in 1981 and decreased to 7.8/1000 in 2008. Conclusions: The fertility and abortion rates among adolescents show that an intensive progress in the prevention of adolescent pregnancy has been achieved in Slovenia in the last two decades. Today, Slovenia is one of the most successful European and world countries as regards adolescent pregnancy prevention. The accessibility of reproductive health care was sustainable also in the transition period. However, to maintain the favourable low levels of adolescent pregnancy, a systemic approach to reproductive health with the establishment of a national strategy for reproductive health care in Slovenia is urgently needed.Downloads
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