Adolescent pregnancy contributes to the cycle of maternal deaths and childhood mortality. Very early motherhood not only increases the risk of dying in childbirth, it also jeopardizes the well-being of surviving mothers and their children.

In almost all developing regions, adolescent fertility fell between 1990 and 2000, then largely stagnated or increased marginally between 2000 and 2005. Adolescent fertility is especially high in sub-Saharan Africa, where fertility remains high among all women of childbearing age.

Total fertility has declined substantially over the past two decades in many countries in Latin America and the Caribbean and South-Eastern Asia, yet adolescent fertility has fallen little and remains over 60 births per 1,000 women in these two regions.