Gynecology & Obstetrics
Open Access
ISSN: 2161-0932
ISSN: 2161-0932
Ma Socorro C Bernardino
St. Lukes Medical Center-Quezon City, Philippines
Pediatric and Adolescent Gynecology Society, Philippines
Scientific Tracks Abstracts: Gynecol Obstet
The total fertility rate according to the 2008 National Demographic and Health Survey of the Philippines has shown a decline over the last three decades. However, this decline was noted more in the older age group of women as compared to the constant number of age-specific fertility rates among women age 15 to 19. Almost 26% of women age 15-24 years has begun childbearing. Based on the 2002 Young Adult Fertility and Sexuality Survey study (YAFS), 23% of Filipino youth are already engaged in pre-marital sex with 21% practicing some form of contraception. Condom use is the most commonly employed method of contraception followed by the pill. Contraceptive counseling of adolescents requires knowledge of adolescent physical and psychosocial development. The adolescent needs to be in partnership with the health care provider to make healthy choices, including the postponement of sexual relationships and use of effective methods to lessen the risk of pregnancy and sexually transmitted diseases. Contraceptive methods appropriate to the teenaged population should be safe and free of unpleasant or irreversible side effects. They should also be effective and the method should also be convenient with a long duration of action. The need for non-contraceptive benefits such as suppression of ovarian cysts, dysmenorrhea and menorrhagia may influence a patient�??s choice. Critical to this issue is that parents may or may not be part of the adolescent's decision in contraceptive use. Issues on confidentiality and accessibility of methods are also relevant to teen contraception counseling.
Ma Socorro C Bernardino is a Head of Pediatric Gynecology Section at St. Luke’s Medical Center-Quezon City in Philippines. She is a President of Pediatric and Adolescent Gynecology Society, Philippines. She is a Fellow in International Federation of Pediatric and Adolescent Gynecology & Philippine Obstetrical and Gynecological Society and also she is Member in Federacion Internationale Gynecologie de Infantile Et Juvenile. Her interests include perinatal, pediatric and adolescent gynecology.
E-mail: soxmd@yahoo.com