Adolescent pregnancy is a very important health issue worldwide. When adolescents who, are often physically and mentally unprepared to bear a child are become mothers it has astoundingly negative outcomes for the mother. Including bad personal outcomes adolescent mothers often give birth to children with increased health issues when compared to a healthy adult mothers. Because of the negative outcomes associated with adolescent pregnancy, the issue should be addressed worldwide. Adolescent mothers tend to have very adverse social outcomes after giving birth. It is imperative to educate populations worldwide about adolescent pregnancies and its adverse outcomes so they can be prevented. The adverse outcomes associated with adolescent pregnancy can be studied in America.
In general, adolescent birth rates in America and worldwide are declining. The observed decline in America is due to more access to contraceptives and the use of contraceptives. The decline can also be attributed to more adolescents abstaining from sexual activity. According to “Facts on American Teens”, in America the percentage of never married females that were sexually active in 1995 was 19% but in 2008 that percentage decreased to about 11%. The lower percentage of sexually active females is due to more widespread sexual education in American schools. Though in general teenage pregnancy rates have declined, the rate of teenage pregnancy in America is the highest among all other developed countries. The teen pregnancy rate in America is almost twice as high as the rate in Canada, a similar country (“Facts on America Teens’”, 2013). Although the adolescent birth rate in America is declining, the adverse outcomes still affect a large number of teenagers in Ameri...
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...nt: Pregnancy in Adolescence and Maternal Health. Retrieved from Nursing Reference Center database. (Accession No. T708373)
Facts on American Teens' Sexual and Reproductive Health. (2013, June). Retrieved April 8, 2014, from Guttmacher Institute website: http://www.guttmacher.org/pubs/FB-ATSRH.html
Kirven, J. (2014, January). Maintaining Their Future After Teen Pregnancy: Strategies for Staying Physically and Mentally Fit. International Journal Of Childbirth Education, 29(1), 57-61.
Facts on the Sexual and Reproductive Health Of Adolescent Women in the Developing World. (2010,April). Retrieved from Guttmacher Institute website: http://www.guttmacher.org/pubs/FB-Adolescents-SRH.pdf
The Girl Effect Factsheet. (2012, July 9). Retrieved April 9, 2014, from The Girl Effect website:http://www.girleffect.org/explore/taking-the-girl-effect-to-scale/data-factsheet-2012/
Furthermore, there are major health issues surrounding teenage pregnancy. For one, teen mothers are two to six times more likely to have low birth-weight babies, compared to mothers above twenty years of age. This is because teen mothers are often still growing themselves, and physically cannot let the baby grow and develop. Such low birth-weights lead to higher risks of new-born health problems, undevelo...
"Facts on American Teens' Sexual and Reproductive Health." Facts on American Teens' Sexual and Reproductive Health. N.p., n.d. Web. 01 Jan. 2014.
Teen pregnancy is surprisingly decreasing over the years. According to Farber, “the most recent studies have shown that there has been a decrease in the rate of pregnancies among all teenagers and among sexually active teenagers (16). Although this issue seems is decreasing this is still a problem faced by many teenage girls today. Each year, 7.5 percent of all 15-19 year old women become pregnant (Maynard 1). Not only does this issue affects the pregnant teen but it also affects the economy. Teen pregnancy affects graduation rates. Many teen mothers cite pregnancy as the key reason of them not finishing school. Only 40 percent of teen mothers finish high school (Teen Pregnancy Affects Graduation Rates). The 60 percent of teen mothers that do not finish high school not only influence their future, but the future of their unborn baby. The best solution to help teen pregnancy become obsolete and save many teenagers futures is abstinence. Abstinence is the best solution because this solution has four advantages such as, it has the highest effectiveness, it teaches other important life skills, it aids teens in school and it halts the spread of STDs among adolescents.
The UNICEF defines adolescent pregnancy as “a teenage girl, usually within the ages of 13-19, becoming pregnant”. Adolescent pregnancy has become a national issue as multiple places all over the world are being affected by this. The nature of this problem is that many teenage girls are having children, and as a result many are dropping out of school, getting low paying jobs, have poor housing situation, and are most likely on some type of welfare. Yet, it does not stop at just the mother the child of the teenage mother will most likely grow up in poverty, without of father, and is proven to be more likely involved with crime, drugs, and alcohol. This issue has various high risk factors, such as single parent homes, sexual abuse, and lack of education. Although, along
Petersen J, Atkinson P, Petrie S, Gibin M, Ashby D, Longley P. Teenage pregnancy—New tools to support local health campaigns. Health & Place [serial online]. March 2009;15(1):300-307. Available from: Academic Search Complete, Ipswich, MA. Accessed May 18, 2014.
Teenage pregnancy is a problem for all involved. It truly puts a great strain on the young parents, especially the new teenage mother, and also on the new grandparents, who more often than not, end up help to raise the new baby while the young parents are at school, or while they are out enjoying being a teenager and socializing with their friends. The spread of this epidemic needs to be stopped before more young adults dreams are dashed by the responsibility of parenthood. Through strong parental guidance and support, appropriate media exposure and more readily available birth control, this issue can be brought under control.
Although the rate of teenage pregnancy in the United States has declined greatly within the past few years, it is still an enormous problem that needs to be addressed. These rates are still higher in the 1990's than they were only a decade ago. The United State's teenage birthrate exceeds that of most other industrialized nations, even though American teenagers are no more sexually active than teenagers are in Canada or Europe.
The birth rate among teens in the United States has declined 9% from 2009 to 2010, a historic low among all racial and ethnic groups, with the least being born in 2010; and in 2011 the number of babies born to adolescents aged 15-19 years of age was 329,797 (“Birth Rates for U.S.”, 2012). Although the decline in unwanted and unplanned teen births is on the rise the United States continues to be among the highest of industrialized countries facing this problem. This is a prevailing social concern because of the health risks to these young mothers as well as their babies. Teens at higher risk of becoming pregnant are raised at or below the poverty level by single parents; live in environments that cause high levels of stress (i.e., divorce, sexual psychological and physical abuse); are influenced by peers or family members that are sexually active; and lack parental guidance that would direct them to be responsible and self-controlled.
The female teen stares into the eyes of her newborn son, not realizing the type of life her and her son will have in the near future. Katrina L. Burchett excellently explicates teenage pregnancy among female adolescents living with domestic problems in her book titled Choices. The various elements that aid to the wide range of teenage pregnancies in the world should all be taken in to consideration. Getting pregnant at an adult is no longer substantial or conventional in our society. Everyday, female young adults are getting pregnant, which is why it is a social issue for the youth today.
Hamilton, B. E., J. A. Martin, and S. J. Ventura. "Trends in Teen Pregnancy and Childbearing." The Office of Adolescent Health/OAH, 2013. Web. 17 Dec. 17.
...crease the teen pregnancy rates. The study was carried out in a town with a population of 10,000 within a health center in a town 25 miles from a major Mid. The location of the health center was located 25 miles from a major Midwestern city. According to Crowley, 2001, the health center serves clients ages 12 through 20. Inclusion criteria were girls ages 13 through 18, and never being pregnant (p. 723). 202 girls agreed and were eligible to participate, with 148 as the final sample. There were 54 girls excluded because they were already pregnant. All participants spoke English or Spanish In conclusion teen pregnancy has been identified in literature as a problem for teenagers, their families, and society. The Nursing Model for Teen Pregnancy will guide the study. The model theorizes that developmental maturity is related to those at risk for teen pregnancy.
One wrong step and some 15 years girl get pregnant. One wrong step and the society will mark you as the anathema. Still the teenage pregnancy is prominent aspect of many different countries in this world Teenage pregnancy means that some female is under age of 20 years when her pregnancy period is just ending. It is a serious issue which cannot be ignored both in developed as well as undeveloped countries. It creates great difficulties for teenage women. More than 50% of women cannot imagine problems which would affect their own lives. The baby born to the teenage mother has risk of the low birth weight risk of the pre-maturity and the risk of anemia along with other health issues to mother and child, mother suffers because of her body is not developed for supporting another life. In most of cases baby develops weakness and laziness that prevails throughout their lives.
The data in this fact sheet are the most current available. Most of the data are from research conducted by The Alan Guttmacher Institute (AGI) or published in the peer-reviewed journal Family Planning Perspectives and the 1994 AGI report Sex and America's Teenagers. Additional sources include the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention and the National Center for Health Statistics.
Teen pregnancy is the term used in reference to those young ladies who get pregnant before attainment of legal adulthood that is between 13-18 years age group. It is a circumstance under which a teenager becomes pregnant unintentionally affecting her life-span development. Teen pregnancy is a prevalent factor among many teenage women especially in their 16th to 19th birthday. Pregnant teenagers are today faced with many obstetrics problems similar to those of the women in their age gap of 20s and 30s. Additional medical concerns are experienced by pregnant teenagers in the developing countries especially women aged 14 or younger. A wide range of teenage pregnancy is unplanned and therefore more risk factors are experienced especially the socioeconomic risks. In the developing countries, teen pregnancies lead to social issues and life complications due to early motherhood. The associated social issues include lower educational levels, increasingly poverty level and other poor life outcomes. In the developed countries, teenage pregnancy occurs outside of marriage, thus leads to the development of social stigma in variety of cultures and communities (Carlson, 2009).
Swann, C., Bowe, K., McCormick, G., Kosmin, M. (2003) Teenage pregnancy and parenthood: a review of reviews. London: HAD.