A 10-year-old Colombian girl gave birth to a healthy baby girl, making her
one of the youngest mothers ever.
The unnamed girl from Manaure,
a town in the Colombian Department of La Guajira, arrived at the hospital in
tears and "enormous pain" from
the contractions, according to Univision's Primer Impacto.
She reportedly delivered her daughter who weighed 5 pounds, by cesarean
section.
The new mom is a member of the Wayuu people, an indigenous tribe in northern
"We've already seen several cases
[of pregnancy] in girls of the Wayuu ethnicity,"
Efraín Pacheco Casadiego,
director of the hospital where the girl gave birth, told
RCN La Radio noticias. "When in fact [the
girls] should be playing with dolls, they are having
to care for a baby. This is shocking."
Pregnancy can occur as soon as a girl starts ovulating, which is happening
at ever younger ages.
"The average age girls in the
country start menstruating is about 12 and a half, but that age keeps
dropping," said Gecsi, adding that the age is
even lower among Hispanic girls. "But only about 13 percent of
Hispanic girls menstruate younger than 11. And for them to have a sexual
experience would be very unusual."
Because ovulation precedes menstruation,
girls can get pregnant before ever having a period.
"Typically, menstruation is the last
thing that happens in puberty," said Gesci,
adding that girls typically go through a growth spurt and develop breasts and
pubic hair before menstruating. "If you notice those things, you could be
about to menstruate and you could get pregnant."