A BABY with an  adolescent mother was delivered every 54 minutes in Panama during the first two months of the year, totaling 1,572,  says a newly released Ministry of Health (Minsa) report.

The Minsa figures  do not include young  pregnant women seeking care  at Social Security facilities or in the country's private clinics.

During the first months of the year, for every 100 pregnancies, 28.5 were adolescents. The World Health Organization considers an adolescent pregnancy as  between the ages of 10 and 19 years

During the year 2016 there were 11,298 teenage pregnancies, 322 more cases than in 2015.

The number of deliveries jumps  in the months of November and December, the result of Carnival  liaisons.