Teenage Pregnancy

Teenagers have healthy bodies, energetic lifestyles, and high fertility rates.  However, they are not physically and emotionally ready to be pregnant yet.  And if you are wondering what is teenage pregnancy, it simply means that a 13-19 year old girl is pregnant, and her pregnancy is generally unplanned or based on societal pressures only.

In the U.S., teen pregnancy rates remain higher compared to other developed nations.  The figures speak for it – nearly 12% of all births in the country are teenage births.

Consequences

The health of the teenage mother will also pass on to the baby.  Medical practitioners notice that teenage pregnancy often lead to low birth weight, therefore producing light-weight babies.

If the teen is smoking, it would even increase the risk of complications such as premature birth, still birth, and even miscarriage.  Other problems may include premature labor, high blood pressure, or anemia.

Complications are not only for the teenage mother, but there’s a chance for it to show up in the baby too.  Aside from low birth weight, infant problems such as vision loss, respiratory distress, and underdeveloped organs also occur.

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“My boyfriend wants us to have sex,” this is the reason that teenagers say when asked why they had an intercourse.  While for the others teens, the reasons why they are abstaining from sex is because it’s against their moral or religious values, they have not met the appropriate partner yet, they fear sexually transmitted diseases, and they support teenage pregnancy prevention

According to National Campaign to Prevent Teen Pregnancy, “31% of teenage girls will get pregnant before reaching the age of 20.”  This would mean that these young girls are raising babies either without financial resources or without partner support.  Aside from that, they will also face difficult life-changing choices such as adoption or abortion.

Sexual Pressures

Society has hyper-sexualized images of sex without any consequences.  Advertising, television, and movies give teenagers the idea that sex is equivalent to success, self-worth, and popularity.

They are also getting pressure from other kids with a false belief that ‘everyone is doing it.’  So if they are not sexually active, maybe something is wrong with them.  Boys will be labeled as gay if they don’t discuss sex openly, while girls feel that they need to have sex to preserve their relationship.  In addition, drug or alcohol use will impair the decision-making abilities of teens to make the right choices.

As parents, the best way for you to achieve teenage pregnancy prevention is to build an open and strong relationship with your children even before they become teens.  Talk about responsible sex to them often – if you’re unsure where to start, you can use situations in movies or TV to initiate discussions.

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In today’s modern society, teenage pregnancy is not new.  And in most cases, this situation is hushed or covered up to protect family prestige.

The effects of pregnancy to teenage woman are characterized by a roller coaster of emotions.  It would usually evoke repulsion, anger, and derision in the family.  And in most cases, the girl is most affected – she could be plagued with ridicule, depression, helplessness, frustration, and guilt.

Effects to the Teenage Mother

As a teenage mother, your body is not yet fully developed.  While you may bounce back from pregnancy more quickly, the development and proper growth of your reproductive organs (and all other parts of your body) may be inhibited.

Mentally, you are not an adult yet.  The part of your brain that aids in logic and decision-making are not yet matured.  Combine this with the fact that you have less real-world experience and education than an older woman.  This would mean that you will not be able to make good decisions for you and your unborn child.

Furthermore, you must take a lot of responsibilities that you might not be prepared to fulfill.  During your pregnancy, you may miss many opportunities and typical experiences that others do – general freedom of choice, high school graduation, and college.  Truly, the effects of pregnancy to teenage woman hamper their physical and mental development.

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There was a 2008 study which establishes a confirmed connection between young people watching sex on TV and teen pregnancy.  The conclusion reveals that the more hours these teenagers spend watching those sexy TV shows, the greater is the probability or chance that they will either be pregnant (for girls) or impregnate someone else (for boys).

This is the conclusion of several medical and scientific journals on teenage pregnancy including Pediatrics – an American medical journal who published this study in its November 2008 issue.  In fact, they’re the first one who established this theory.

Observations

The mentioned study was conducted by Rand Corporation.  Its independent researchers monitored over 2,000 teens (between 12-17 years old).  For 3 years (2001-2004), the researchers oversee their TV-watching habits as well as the sexual content of the 23 shows during the 2000-2001 seasons.

Then, they calculated how much sex those teens saw on TV.  Out of the 2,000, about 718 were sexually active.

So researchers discovered that “teen pregnancy can be predicted by the teen’s exposure to TV’s sexual content.”  Those who were exposed to most sex (25% of the teens) were twice more likely to be involved in early pregnancy than those with lower levels of exposure (12% of them).  These facts can be found in medical and scientific journals on teenage pregnancy.

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Teenage pregnancy rates have been declining since 1991.  However, from 2005-2006 there were 138,920 teenage girls between 15-17 years old who were pregnant.  This figure rose from 133,138 and was published by Federal Interagency Forum (Child and Family Statistics).

A Grave Concern

This 4% increase in teenage pregnancy rates has caused grave concern among health professionals.  “In this technology-driven world, young teenagers, especially girls, are always looking for ways to connect with others as well as themselves.  One way that they could do that is to have a baby,” says Dr. Keith Ablow, FOX News contributor and psychiatrist.

“We really need very rigorous public health response to counteract this because it’s not pretty.  Ultimately, we will have babies nurtured by mothers who can’t provide them with all the things they need – this might be the long-term consequence,” Ablow added.  Furthermore, he said “That act is really self-centered.  Basically, you’re declaring that it is all about you.  And the people acting this way might be our worst role models.”

Low Birth Weight

The report also showed that low-birth weight is on the rise in the U.S.  You very well know that babies who are born below 5 pounds and 8 ounces have a high risk of health problems and developmental delays.

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For most women, going through teenage pregnancy abortion could be a life-changing decision.  If you are considering this option, it’s important for you to know the facts first before you go through with this irreversible procedure.

Oral Procedures

Within 4-7 weeks after your last menstrual period (LMP), you can abort the embryo through an abortion pill (RU486, Mifepristone).  This procedure requires 3 clinic visits.

•    1st visit – you will be given pills to kill the embryo.
•    2nd visit – if the abortion did not push through after 2 days, you will be given another drug that will induce cramps and expel the embryo.
•    3rd visit – ensures that the procedure has been completed.

Surgical Procedures

In addition, there are also surgical procedures for teenage pregnancy abortion:

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Cases of teenage pregnancies are increasing very fast.  And the issue whether to include a comprehensive sex education in school has always been an argument among educators and parents for a long time now.  They are uncertain whether to teach birth control instructions to teenagers or just coach them how to say no to sex.

Reduce Teen Pregnancy

Fortunately, there is a new research study suggesting that comprehensive sex education may lead to less teenage pregnancies.  Also, parents should not fear because there is no indication that teaching kids about sex will boost sexually transmitted diseases or increase sexual intercourse levels.

To support this, Pamela Kohler, the study lead author and program manager working at Seattle’s University of Washington, said that “Aside from teaching abstinence, it’s not harmful to teach teenagers about birth control.”

Study Results

Upon examining the results of the national survey focused on 15-19 year old heterosexual teens (2002), Kohler and her colleagues found that two-thirds of the teens received comprehensive instruction with birth control discussion, 1 in 4 received abstinence-only education, while 9% received no education about sex at all (especially the poor or those living in rural areas).

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You would be shocked to hear stories on teenage pregnancy.  Usually, these kids did not plan or expect to be pregnant.  And even if you consider your teenage daughter to be a good girl (doesn’t drink alcohol, do drugs, or smoke), you might be surprised to find out one day that she’s pregnant too.

“The increase in number of teen pregnancies is a result of the cutback in youth community resources over the last 8 years,” said Michele Ozumba, the director of Georgia Campaign for Adolescent Pregnancy Prevention.

Life Decisions

So if you find out that your teenage daughter is pregnant, there are several decisions that both of you need to make.  The different stories on teenage pregnancy will give you an idea about some of the consequences that these decisions may bring.

First of all, you’ve got to decide what you’re going to do with the baby.  Are you going for abortion, adoption, or will you keep the baby?

Another major decision is what you’re going to do with the boyfriend of your teenage girl.  Will you push him to marry your daughter?  Or will you let them finish their college studies first before they get married – this would mean waiting for about 5-6 years (assuming that they still want it by then)?

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Teenage pregnancy may have a lot of causes.  As a teenage girl, you may become pregnant due to either of the following: one night stands, long-term relationships, or even rape situations.

Whatever the cause is, only one thing is clear – teenage pregnancy is a result of voluntary or involuntary sexual activity.  And since birth control methods can also fail if you used it incorrectly, you might found yourself pregnant in your teenage years.  Then, you have no choice but to prepare yourself from the negative effects of teenage pregnancy.

Social Effects

It is true that unplanned teen pregnancy is hard.  There are many life-changing decisions that you need to face including: whether or not you will keep the baby, how you can cope with motherhood, or whether you will just create an adoption plan.

But the most immediate social effect of teen pregnancy is the fact that your body will change, and along with it, your lifestyle will follow as well.  So as your body prepares for childbirth, you should avoid the following activities:

•    Unhealthy eating patterns
•    Lack of sleep
•    Smoking marijuana or cigarettes
•    Drinking alcoholic beverages.

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In the United States, there are 4 out of 10 girls who will be pregnant before they reach the age of 20.  In fact, it is estimated that there are around one million pregnancies all over the country, and 560,000 will choose to give birth to their child.

The risks of teenage pregnancy problems may begin once the teenager becomes sexually active.  Most of them say that they weren’t planning to have sex in the first place – it just happened, and they’re not able to use any protection.

Health Risks of the Teenage Mother

A teenager’s body is still growing, and she would require more nutritional support to meet her baby’s needs.  Therefore, prenatal care is important, and a large part of this is nutritional counseling (this is usually done by a midwife, nutritionist, or a doctor).

Counseling normally gives education and a lot of information including folic acid, other prenatal vitamins, and proper eating and drinking.  This is critical because if the teenager will not follow proper nutrition, it would lead to teenage pregnancy problems such as low weight gain, anemia (low iron), and prolonged or premature labor.

Health Risks of the Unborn Child

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