A health educator in Udon Thani highlighted the risks of teenage pregnancy and reported that the youngest pregnancy recorded in the province involved a nine year old girl and a 13 year old boy.
The young pregnancy and unwanted pregnancy issue were discussed during a sexual health education session for 350 first-year science students at Udon Thani Rajabhat University yesterday, September 23.
The discussion, called “Safe Love Smart Life”, was organised after a recent case involving a university student who reportedly suffered a miscarriage in her dormitory bathroom and later took the dead baby to a temple for a funeral.
Health educators from the Udon Thani Provincial Public Health Office were invited to speak to students about sexual activity, relationships, protection and pregnancy.
Sukanya Kanawapi, a health educator from Health Centre 8, said she had tracked teen pregnancy in the region for more than 10 years. She reported that the youngest pregnancy recorded in Udon Thani involved a nine year old girl, with the father being a 13 year old boy.
Sukanya said the young mother had told officials that she intentionally became pregnant because she wanted to strengthen her relationship with her boyfriend. She reportedly believed that having a child together would help the relationship last and that they could raise the child together.
Sukanya noted that Thai law treats sexual activity with a child under 15 as an offence regardless of whether the child consented. She did not provide details about when the case occurred or whether anyone was prosecuted.
She also said teen pregnancy is a global issue monitored by the World Health Organisation (WHO). The figure cited during the discussion was 21 births per 1,000 teenage girls in Thailand, compared with a benchmark of no more than 10 per 1,000 for developed countries.
WHO defines the adolescent birth rate as the annual number of births per 1,000 girls in a specified adolescent age group. Recent WHO data show Thailand’s adolescent birth rate among girls aged 15 to 19 was 18 per 1,000 in 2022.
Sukanya said the consequences of early pregnancy extend beyond the health of the young mother. Families may face additional expenses, education can be interrupted, and young mothers may have fewer opportunities for work and income later in life.
The health educator also provided information about Thailand’s abortion law. Current Department of Health guidance states that abortion is legally available up to 12 weeks without criminal liability, while pregnancies of more than 12 weeks and up to 20 weeks can be terminated after examination and counselling.
The guidance also allows termination in certain circumstances involving medical necessity, subject to the conditions set out under Section 305 of the Criminal Code.
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