Teens account for 8% of pregnancy

Eight out of 100 pregnant women visiting obstetrics and gynecology clinics are teenagers, according to a government commission survey Tuesday.

The Commission for Youth Protection under the direct control of the presidential office of Cheong Wa Dae said that 8.35 percent of the pregnant women who visited the clinics from September to November last year were teenagers.

The report of the commission was based on data compiled by Prof. Lee Yong-Sik of the psychiatry department at Chungang University, who surveyed 349 obstetricians.

By age of the pregnant teenagers, the highest number was 17 year-olds (28 percent). Twenty-four percent were 18 years old, 21 percent were 16, 17 percent were 19, 7 percent were 15 and 3 percent were 14.

Nearly 80 percent (79.2 percent) of obstetricians said that the number of pregnant teenagers is increasing. Prof. Lee said 95 percent of them had abortions.

Lee Ho-Kap gdt@donga.com