CITY OF SAN FERNANDO – Most women in Central Luzon had their first sex at the age of 21.4, got married at age 22.6, and gave birth to their first baby at age 23.7.
These were revealed in the latest survey conducted by the regional office of the Philippine Statistics Authority (PSA) here, covering interview of women aged 25 to 49 in various Central Luzon provinces.
Statistics provided by PSA to Punto also revealed that on the average, children born to these women had a gap of 2.3 years.
PSA regional director Edgar Pare said in an interview that total fertility rate of women has been on the downtrend since 1993 to 2017, from 3.9 percent to 2.4 percent.
“Total fertility rate refers to the average number of children a woman would have by the end of her childbearing years if she bore children at the current age-specific fertility rates,” Pare explained.
He said “age-specific fertility rates are calculated for the three years before the survey based on detailed birth histories provided by women,” he added.
PSA statistics in Central Luzon also indicated that in the past five years, 61 percent of women were assisted by doctors, 30 percent by midwives and one percent by nurses. The others did not have any such assistance at all.
Of those assisted, 85 percent went to health facilities, while 1.3 percent got assistance at home.
The PSA also covered surveys indicating that 66 percent of children got all “basic vaccinations” that covered at least one dose of BCG vaccine, three doses of DPT containing three doses of polio vaccine and one anti-measles.
The surveys also said 88 percent of infants in Central Luzon were breastfed by their mothers, including 36 percent who were breastfed within the first hour after childbirth.
The babies continued to be breastfed for an average of 20.4 months, the PSA also said.
