A planned pregnancy is a life-affirming and often joyful choice made by women in the West.
However in the developing world the decision to become pregnant is not a choice, but a life-threatening rite of passage experienced far too young and with too little help, a charity is warning.
As the Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation hold Wednesday's world summit on family planning, Save the Children hopes to highlight that more teenage girls are killed in pregnancy and childbirth than anything else in developing countries, yet up to 75% of the annual 18 million annual adolescent pregnancies are intended and planned.
“Too often girls in the developing world want to get pregnant because they feel they have no other option in life but early motherhood," Save the Children’s Chief Executive, Justin Forsyth, said.
"This is a global scandal" he added.
The charity is working alongside The Overseas Development Institute to help empower girls to make a choice. This is more than just a matter of teaching girls about the importance of condoms, but a major culture change is needed too.
Actress Joely Richardson investigated family planning options for young women in rural Ethiopia.
One 16-year-old girl, who had just had a baby without the support of a partner, spoke out. She told her "Sex was a big mystery"
"We didn't talk about it with friends or at school"
Their report Charting the future: Empowering girls to prevent early pregnancy’ released to coincide with the World Family Planning summit in London. Save the Children and the Overseas Development Institute are calling for an enforcement of laws against child marriage and increasing support for girls education.
Report author and ODI Research Fellow Dr Nicola Jones said, “The relevance of family planning to adolescent girls, many of whom are already married, has been woefully neglected. These girls are more likely to die having a child and that’s why empowering them to access contraceptives is an urgent remedy.”