Determinants of adolescent first births in Indonesia

Adolescent childbirth remains a central issue for lower-middle-income countries such as Indonesia. The available literature suggests that this is associated with several adverse outcomes, including health and socioeconomic factors. This study aimed to evaluate determinants that correlate with mothers in Indonesia who first gave birth when they were adolescents. This study is a cross-sectional and examined data collected by Indonesia Demographic and Health Survey (IDHS) in 2017. We investigated the variables of educational level, wealth index, residence, and access to media (frequency of reading newspaper or magazine, listening to the radio, watching television, using the internet) and their correlation with a weighted sample of women who had their first live birth when they were younger than 19 years old. We used multivariate logistic regression to adjust for confounding factors and to analyze the determinants of adolescent first birth. Education (AOR=15.39; 95% CI=11.13-21.26), wealth index (AOR=1.22; 95% CI=1.08-1.39), place of residence (AOR=1.23; 95% CI=1.13-1.34), frequency of reading newspaper or magazine (AOR=1.31; 95% CI=1.11-1.55), and frequency of using internet (AOR=1.30; 95% CI=1.02-1.65) were significant determinants of.adolescent first births in Indonesia. This study recommends better access to education for poor and lower educated young women to be prioritized. Policies and programs that support the wellbeing of adolescents to achieve the best outcome of health reproduction are needed.