In India, it may not be surprising for young women to have children, but in reality, it is a matter of concern in terms of women’s health. When a young girl conceives, it is not only her body affected, but she also has to go through a mental struggle. This has changed in today’s time compared to before. With the improved level of education, women have become aware of their rights. But in many places, things are still the same.
A report by the National Family Health Survey (NFHS-5) shows that the rate of women who gave birth to their first child by conceiving at the age of 15-19 years decreased by 1 percent in 2019-2021 as compared to 2015-16. That is, the rate which was 8% in 2015-16 is now 7%. Obviously, amidst the concern of the growing population of the country, the change of this 1% in these figures must have come due to education. Where women have moved towards becoming more educated, these figures would have come down and where this would not have happened, the situation would be the same as before.
Lack of education directly linked to early pregnancy
From the report, it is seen that even today, rural women are ahead of urban women in giving birth to children at a young age. One of the biggest reasons for this is the lack of education. According to the NFHS report, 18 percent of girls between the ages of 15-19 who never went to a school conceived at this age, and gave birth to a child, while only 4 percent of the girls in the list had studied (girls who had an education up to 12 years) and became pregnant for the first time at an early age and gave birth to a child.
Apart from education, the prosperity of the family also decreases the chances of girls getting pregnant at a young age. This is also revealed by this report. According to the data, only 2 percent of young women in families whose condition was well had a child born at a young age, while in low-income households, the rate reached 10 percent.
The pregnancy rate of Muslim women is more than others
A deeper view of the report reveals that the women from the Scheduled Tribes registered 9% more pregnancies than the women from the Other Backward Castes. When it comes to becoming pregnant in this age group (15 to 19), Muslim women surpassed all other women. At the age of 15-19, the rate of conception was 8.4 percent among Muslim women. After this, the next number was seen to be 6.8% among Christians, 6.5% among Hindus, 3.7% in Buddhists, and 2.8% among Sikhs.
States-wise percentages of teenage pregnancies
Looking at teenage pregnancy statistics in a state-wise manner, it shows that women who get pregnant in teenage are the highest in Tripura at 22%. This is followed by West Bengal at 16%, Andhra Pradesh at 13%, Assam at 12%, Bihar at 11%, and Jharkhand at 10%.
The figures for being pregnant at an early age are the lowest in the Union Territory of Chandigarh (0.8%). Slightly above this are Jammu and Kashmir (1.0%), and Lakshadweep (1.1%). Talking about the state, Uttarakhand is the only state where the rate of pregnancy of girls in the age group of 15-19 years is 3%.
Muslim women register the highest rates of fertility and pregnancies among teenagers and desire to have more kids
Earlier, we had informed our readers about the reduced fertility rate of women by quoting the same survey report, in which the data had concluded that even today Muslim women are ahead of women of other religions in giving birth to children (despite the lowered fertility rate among the women of the community than before). Now, this report also gives information that the girls who get pregnant at a young age are more in the Muslim community. Similarly, the survey also revealed how many women did not want more children, with the lowest percentage which is 64% of them coming from Muslim women; while 72% of Sikh women and 71% of Hindu women said they don’t want extra children anymore.
Bathing during menstruation
Apart from these, the hygiene of women was also questioned in the survey. Women were asked how much attention they paid to bathing during menstruation. According to the report, 96 percent of urban women and 91 percent of rural women bathe during menstruation and bathe in the same bathroom in which other people in the household bathe. Statistics show that educated women take more care of their hygiene during this time. While 94% of non-school goers take baths, the percentage of bathing during menstruation is 97% among the school goers.
99% of Hindu women bathe during menstruation. This is followed by Jains (98%) and finally Muslim women with 88% of them. Further reports suggest that 97% of women in a well-off family home take a bath during this period, while the number drops to 85% in less affluent families. In terms of states, 90% of the women of most of the states and union territories take baths during this period. While in Ladakh, the figure is 37%, in Jammu and Kashmir it is 43%.
NFHS – 5
It is worth mentioning that the work of the National Family Health Survey was carried out in two phases in India. The first phase from June 2019 to 2020 covered 17 states and 5 Union Territories. Then the next phase ran from January 2020 to April 2021 covering 11 states and 3 Union Territories. The survey is based on feedback given by 6.3 lakh families. 7.2 lakh women and 1.01 men participated. Before this, such a report was released in 2016. The report for 2019-2021 was released by Union Minister Dr. Mansukh Mandaviya a few days ago.
