According to a recent report from Xinhua News Agency, teenage mothers are now exceedingly common in some fishing villages in Lingao County, Hainan province. The youngest of the teen mothers is currently just 14 years old. Some women even become grandmothers by the age of 30--a situation that local villagers seem to take for granted.

Pan Hong, 16, is currently five months pregnant. In her home, she used one hand to flick through TV channels while gently tapping her 2-year-old daughter's back with the other, attempting to comfort the crying child.

That day, Pan's 17-year-old husband had gone fishing with his father. She and her mother-in-law, who is not yet 40, took care of the children at home while their husbands were working. Pan summed up her day like this: "Eat, feed the children, watch TV, feed the children..." To Pan, it is normal to have a second child at her age. This is what happens to most of her peers in fishing villages around the county.

According to records from the maternity department of People's Hospital in Lingao County, 20 women under the age of 16 gave birth from May 2015 to February 2016, among which six were under 15 and five were under 14. The youngest mother was born on Oct. 10, 2001, which means she was under 14 when she gave birth to her baby in 2015.

The Xinhua report found that the traditional lifestyle and industry in the villages may be the cause of the phenomenon. Several men told the reporter that fishermen take serious risks when they go fishing. To ensure procreation, early marriage and childbearing has become the local custom over the years.

In addition, children in the fishing villages are often raised by their grandparents, as their parents are usually away fishing. With the support of their elders, most young people enter relationships and begin having sex in junior high school.

Some experts warned that teenage mothers face heightened risks during childbirth, and early maternity can also threaten familial and social stability.