Teenage Pregnancy in La Paz

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The roots of this research project stem from a personal interest in producing a work that combines thoughtful contemporary research with utilizing past academic research, primary data, and Geographic Information Systems (GIS) technology, to alleviate poverty and social inequalities that have traditionally been accentuated by teenage pregnancy.

Mapping Teenage Pregnancy in La Paz, Baja California Sur, Mexico

Previous research has shown that adolescent pregnancy increases the risk of health complications for both mother and child in women 12 to 15 years old, and teenage pregnancy results in negative outcomes concerning the subsequent standard of living for the mother and child.

According to the World Bank, the global adolescent fertility rate from 1995 to 2008 decreased from 64 to 51 births per 1,000 women ages 15-19 years old. In that same period, the rate within Latin America decreased from 86 to 73. Mexico had lower rates (during those years) than the Latin American averages: 78 to 65, but higher than the world rates (World Bank Group, 2009a).

In 2007, only three other Mexican states, Chihuahua, Nayarit, and Durango, had a higher percentage of registered births to adolescents and teenagers than Baja California Sur, Mexico (Instituto Nacional de Estadística, Geografía e Informática (INEGI), 2007). Since the younger segments of society dominate the local population demographically, special attention to this phenomenon should be given by state and local government if the region wants to maintain high levels of health among the young population.

A review of theories and past research concerning teenage pregnancy and parenthood in Latin America (mainly Mexico) was conducted and the general outcomes were examined. Drawing from the conclusions of past studies and theories, a survey was created to determine whether the trends in La Paz, Baja California Sur, Mexico follow a similar path.

Hypothesis: Women in La Paz, BCS, Mexico who were or are teen mothers will have lower rates of birth control knowledge and use and low educational attainment than women who gave birth to their first child during their twentieth year.

Images of people are not taken from La Paz, Mexico but are used to illustrate the situation while protecting the privacy of the men and women who participated in the study.

This website is using Stine's thesis project to show different mapping styles. For this project ArcGIS software was used to create static maps which were then exported to create an interactive PDF map. ZeeMaps was also used to create a dynamic map of the social services available in La Paz. The website was created using Microsoft Frontpage 2003.

Sources

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