101 East

The Philippines’ Baby Factory

101 East reveals the shadowy underworld offering help to the rising numbers of teenage mothers in the Philippines.

They call it the “baby factory”.

At the Dr Jose Fabella Memorial Hospital in the Philippines’ capital, Manila, an infant is born every 12 minutes. Many of the new mothers are teenagers, some just 13.

This devoutly Catholic nation, where abortion is illegal, is the only Asian country where teenage pregnancy has increased in the last two decades.

Authorities say they want to reduce the birth rate, but the fight to make contraception readily available has been plagued by setbacks.

101 East investigates why children are having babies in the Philippines and meets some of the country’s youngest mothers. 

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