The child revels freely on her belly while she recalls her early foray into motherhood. Behind our microphone, she is attentive to the little creature that grew inside her, interrupting the conversation to settle him... She has just turned 15 and already carries the weight of a household on her shoulders.

Yeny, let's call her that, tells us that she became pregnant when she was 13 and had been in a relationship with the father of her baby for a long time before that. So it was only a matter of time before her belly began to grow, and when it did, the news was received with joy, although the teenager's life changed ipso facto.

She now sees each step of the process through a sepia-colored curtain: the nausea of he first few months, the pain of childbirth, the panic of not leaving that green room. It is also difficult to say goodbye to her classmates, her free time, the typical things of her age, and the common places in the municipality of Jobabo.

She tells us confidently that her partner is 30 years old and that they have been married for four years, even though the law does not recognize their union. As support, so that she can study a trade and get a profession, her grandmother, the baby's father, and her mother-in-law join forces to carry the baby. When we ask Yeny about her mother, she says she is alive, but then she just remains silent.

She lifts her child with a look in her eyes that shows no regret. She recently celebrated her 15th birthday. Now she carries a heavy maternity bag and her only concern is that the beautiful little boy in her arms grows up healthy and happy, with the support she would have liked for herself....

During the first Regional Postgraduate Course on Journalism, Gender, and Demography on Teenage Pregnancy and its Multiple Interactions, which took place in Las Tunas in 2022, it was revealed that the municipality of Jobabo had one of the highest rates in the country. Since then, a mechanism has been set in motion to curb the phenomenon, although there is still a long way to go.
Yarien Pérez Corona, a second-year resident in Family Medicine and doctor at medical office 36 in the Argentina Sur 1 neighborhood, confesses to 26 that teenage pregnancy is an issue that she has been dealing with for years.

Yarien Pérez Corona, a second-year resident in Family Medicine and doctor at medical office 36 in the Argentina Sur 1 neighborhood, tells 26 that teenage pregnancy is an issue to which the health system in general gives high priority in the municipality.

"We currently have a pregnant teenager, aged 16, in the community, and a few months ago another younger girl gave birth," the doctor points out. We are not satisfied with the work done because, as long as there is even one case, we have to be alert, but we do see that the strategies that have been adopted are beginning to yield better results.

"Every clinic has a teen club. From the outside, it may seem like this is just a formality on paper, but that's not true; important preventive work is being done, in which we involve the family, because without effective parental responsibility, this problem will not end.
"There we talk about pregnancy, early initiation of sexual relations, how the body is not prepared for pregnancy at this age... We do it thoroughly, at least here in this clinic, because we are part of a community that is currently undergoing transformation due to its vulnerable conditions.

"I haven't been practicing here long, but I have felt the support of the factors and also the backing in contraceptive methods. Adolescents are given high priority. We know that more educational work is needed, that families need to have more control over their children, and that effective involvement must be achieved, because this is a real problem."
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Lucia, let's call her that, is three months pregnant and no older than 16. She studies at the Technical and Vocational School and is also involved in the Argentina Sur community.

Near the doctor's office, she shows us her belly, which is still growing, as the pregnancy is still in its early stages. Her mother accompanies her everywhere and is her main source of support, “even to continue studying and become someone in life, because her baby will need a lot of resources.”

She says she had a relationship with a man who was “much older” and that the romantic bond ended as soon as it became known that she was going to have a child. She has fears about the process, but she has taken on this new stage with the conviction that she can do it, and is conclusive when she says that “a child cannot be a hindrance.”
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Yordan Rivero Rovaina, director of Municipal Health in Jobabo, points out that there are currently 186 pregnant women in the area, 18.2 percent of whom are teenagers.

"We are one of the few municipalities in the country included in the application of quality standards to meet the medical care needs of pregnant teenagers, for which we have received considerable support, including international support.

"Early pregnancy is a priority here. The Maternal and Child Care Program (PAMI in Spanish) coordinates the work and plans from different areas for nursing staff, doctors, social workers...

"Most of the work is done in secondary schools and, above all, in vulnerable communities. The fact that there is currently only one pregnant girl in ‘Southern Argentina’ is due to teamwork, the union of community factors and educational institutions. But we know we have a long way to go.

"We have identified the interactions between students in secondary schools and pre-university institutions, the environments in which they live, and the homes they come from. Early sexual initiation is the fundamental cause, and we must act on it.

"Even in this context of scarce resources, we have had access to contraceptive methods in our family planning consultations through the quality standards program. In other words, that is not the cause of this phenomenon."...

In the municipality of Jobabo, the authorities are establishing strategies to curb the phenomenon of early pregnancy. But early unions continue to color the reality of a territory that stands out in the country for its high rate of adolescent fertility.

Early marriage is normalized there, even though the Family Code stipulates 18 as the minimum age for marriage. Similarly, it is necessary to broaden the range of interactions that precede and encourage this phenomenon, as well as to emphasize the link between adolescents and older men.

Teenage pregnancy continues to cause significant health complications that result in long stays in intensive care units, with imminent danger to mothers and their babies. But beyond this risk, there is a life that is overshadowed and limited. And it is almost always that of the girl.

Experts on the subject insist on looking at women beyond their sexual and reproductive capacity. Premature pregnancy represents a change in the microcosm of the adolescent's life that often ends in the frustration of her dreams. In every locality, the protection of this age group must, as in Jobabo, be adapted to scenarios where risk lurks.