Havana, Feb 1 (Prensa Latina) Early motherhood in Cuba gradually declined over the last 10 years, mainly in rural areas, according to results of the 2014 Multiple Indicator Cluster Surveys, MICS, Granma newspaper reports.
The study shows that nine percent of women from 15 to 19 years old surveyed in the Caribbean country had begun the reproductive process, being the most common early motherhood in women with a lower educational level and in rural areas.

Data from the Center for Demographic Studies show, moreover, that about 16 percent of the country's total fertility are to adolescent mothers, with differences within that age group. It is stable between 12 and 14 years old, slightly decreases from 18 to 19 years old, and grows between 15 and 17 years old.

The article "Decision making about reproduction in adolescence. Issue for discussion," by a group of seven authors from the National Center for Sex Education, CENESEX, and the Center for Demographic Studies, CEDEM, at the University of Havana, shows the increase of sex relations in increasingly younger ages.

Researches do not show ties between those relationships and the existence of reproductive interests, and also refer to the advancement of premarital sexual initiation and consensual unions.

Studies by the MICS 2014 Survey show that adolescents use less birth control than older women; six of 10 women between 15 and 19 years old married or in union currently using a contraceptive method compared to 72 percent of women from 20 to 24 years old.