Marumo Sekgobela, Save the Children South Africa

#TheTakeOffInterview | #TeenagePregnacy Pregnancies among adolescent girls remain a global problem. An estimated 21 million girls aged 15–19 years in developing countries become pregnant and about 12 million of them give birth every year.   Even before the pandemic, in South Africa, 16% of young women aged 15-19 had begun childbearing. The figure ranges between 11% in urban areas and 19% in rural areas. In 2019, nearly 130,000 babies were delivered to girls aged 10 to 19 in public health facilities in South Africa which further increased to an additional 136,386 babies in 2020. The country has recorded an unacceptably high rate of teenage pregnancies in just the first quarter of 2021, with more than 36,000 babies delivered to girls of the same age group (already marking one-third of the annual average – 30.47%).    Guest: Marumo Sekgobela, Save the Children South Africa