Wait a second!
More handpicked essays just for you.
More handpicked essays just for you.
Impact of teen pregnancy
What are some of the struggles that teenage mothers face
Teen pregnancy may be prevented by improved education
Don’t take our word for it - see why 10 million students trust us with their essay needs.
Recommended: Impact of teen pregnancy
According to U.S. Health and Human Services, 1 in 3 girls will get pregnant before she turns twenty. Almost 1 million teens get pregnant every year. Most of these pregnancies are unplanned, and cause turmoil for the teen mother, the baby's father, and their families. (surviving an unplanned pregnancy). As that may come as a shock, those statistics are realistic and accurate. In 2012 alone there were 29.4 live births for every 1,000 adolescent females ages 15-19. (hhs.gov). U.S. teen birth rate is slightly higher than any over developed country. U.S.A is holding the top rank in adolescent pregnancies. Of about 82% of pregnancy are found to be in teenagers having an age group between 15-20. (Teenage pregnancy: causes and facts). Childbearing at a young age impacts the adolescent parents both momentarily and in the forthcoming future. How can a child care for a child? They simply can't. “I’m still just as young as I was” she insists, “I haven’t grown up any faster.” (Wallis). Spoken by a young girl whom gave her perspective on giving birth at a young age. In society today, the uprising issue of adolescents having children, teen pregnancy, is becoming a lifetime impediment.
Teen pregnancy is often considered to be one of the most difficult experiences an adolescent may be involved in. It is not only traumatic for the mother but also the baby. Teen pregnancies have a higher risk for complications on both spectrums. Mainstream complications include but do not limit too significant anemia, placenta previa, induced hypertension, premature delivery and toxemia. Unborn babies receive the most of the effects of the early teen pregnancy, first being that the fetus loses out on nutrients from the still growing mother. More importantly, “Tee...
... middle of paper ...
...8, 2014. http://www.healthcommunities.com/teen-pregnancy/children/risks-to-baby-in-teen-pregnancy.shtml “Teenage Pregnancy: causes and facts” Ealryteenagepregnancy.blogspot Teen pregnancy. July 11th, 2013. online blog. April 4th, 2013. http://earlyteenagepregnancy.blogspot.in/2013/07/teenage-pregnancy-causes-and-facts.html “Teen Pregnancy Statistics - Teen Pregnancy” Web. April 16, 2014. http://www.teenhelp.com/teen-pregnancy/teen-pregnancy-statistics.html “Trends in teen pregnancy and childbearing” hhs.gov. Office of Adolescent
Health. December 20, 2013. Web. March 21, 2014. http://www.hhs.gov/ash/oah/adolescent-health-topics/reproductive-health/teen-pregnancy/trends.html
Wallis, Claudia. “Children having children” content.time. Time inc. Tuesday, June
21, 2005. Web. March 21, 2014. http://content.time.com/time/magazine/article/0,9171,1074861,00.html
Teenagers who become mothers have harsh prospects for the future. Teenagers obtaining abortions are 20% and girls under 15 accounts for 1.2%. They are much more likely to leave of school; receive insufficient prenatal care; rely on public assistance to raise a child; develop health problems; or en...
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...
The District of Columbia is the 23rd most population city in the United States with a population of 658,893 (Census). According to UNICEF, teen pregnancy is defined as “A teenage girl, usually within the ages of 13-19, becoming pregnant” ((Link 1). Nationally in the United States, there has been a steady decline of teen pregnancy within the past decade. However, it is not occurring in the District of Columbia, specifically Southeast DC (Ward 7 and 8) which includes areas such as: Lincoln Heights, Twining, Anacostia and Woodland. As of 2011, DC was ranked number nine in the nation for the highest rate of teen pregnancy. For the total amount of births, only 908 were from young women who were below the age of 20 in Washington DC. About 879 were from young women that were around high school ages 15-19. Specifically, Southeast DC is a low-income area, with approximately ¼ of teen mothers going on welfare within three years after their child’s birth (Link 2). As of 2012, out of the 790 births from teenage mothers, more than half, or 457 of the births mainly occurred in the Southeast DC area (Link4). This area has been plagued through various social determinants of health. This includes having repeated cycles of poverty, lack of comprehensive sexual education, especially in regards to contraception and a lot of violence occurring as a result of crimes. Ward 7 has approximately 95% of its citizens being Black and 2.3% of their citizens are Hispanic(Link 5). While in Ward 8 have about 94% of their citizens that are Black and 1.8% are Hispanic. Between both wards, about 63% of households including both Blacks and Hispanics are living below the federal poverty line and about 37% of births from the 2010 census were from teenage mothers. Abo...
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.
Hayes L. 13b: Teenage pregnancy--prevention and intervention. Practice Nurse [serial online]. November 28, 2003;26(9):63. Available from: Academic Search Complete, Ipswich, MA. Accessed May 18, 2014.
America has one of the largest pregnancy rates in teens in the whole world (“Sexuality, Contraception, and the Media”). Pregnant teens have to make many hard choices. They must decided to keep the baby or not., and to continue on with school. or not. Teens moms can lose everything they’ve worked for after one bad decision. Sex is in teens lives because of media influence.
Women’s Health Channel (n.d.). Teen Pregnancy & Health Risks to the Baby. Retreived from http://www.womenshealthchannel.com/teen-pregnancy/baby-risks.shtml.
Although there are still troubles with teenage pregnancy, there are people out there who are putting forth effort to help the social problem. Countless organizations are beginning to show up and attempt in helping these teens. There is a group that started in Austin, Texas called The Tandem Teen Prenatal and Parenting Program. “Tandem has been effective in improving the health and well-being of teenage parents and their children and has more than halved the national subsequent pregnancy rate of 24% among its clients by more then half” (Rosell, Scarborough, Lewis, 2010). Tandem is trying to help in improving the lives of the teen parents who do not have much help from anyone else. “They provide one-on-one prenatal education at appropriate intervals, with the aid of topical packets that include print and video material” (Rosell, Scarborough, Lewis, 2010).
Adolescent childbearing has become a prominent social issue because of the broad social and personal consequences. Babies born to teen mothers are at increased risk of developing physical, social, and cognitive problems and deficiencies. Teenage mothers are at increased risk for pre-term labor and premature childbirth. They are also at increased risk of pregnancy complications, infant physical disability, and low birth weight. In many cases prenatal medical care is frequently delayed or inadequately delivered.
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.
Swann, C., Bowe, K., McCormick, G., Kosmin, M. (2003) Teenage pregnancy and parenthood: a review of reviews. London: HAD.
Thesis Statement: Within America, there is a teen pregnancy epidemic across all socioeconomic backgrounds, presenting commonalities as to the causes and ramifications of adolescents emerging as a growing parental population.
Tsai and Wong (2003) acknowledged many risks factors, which is a contributor to teen pregnancy. The influence involves numerous sexual partners, drug abuse, unprotected sex, use of or lack of contraceptives, poor attendance, school performance, and lack of family support, etc. Teen pregnancy is a main issue in every health care system, and affects a young girl’s ...
Pregnancy in girls aged 19 or below is termed as teenage pregnancy. There are many social, emotional and health problems associated with teenage pregnancy. Even though increased awareness about sexual health and greater used of condoms has brought down the cases of teenage pregnancy in countries like U.S., the responsible factors like low education standards, poverty, inappropriate knowledge of sex amongst adolescents contributes to cases of teenage pregnancy. Some developing nations are faced with problems of early marriage and non-awareness about contraceptives which also contributes to cases of teenage pregnancy.
Preventing teenage pregnancy has been a goal for many years now. Statistics have tried to keep up with the change in the teenage generation. Many people have different opinions on the subject of teen pregnancy, because to some people teens seem to be getting pregnant expeditiously in these times. People fail to realize that having a baby is a privilege to many people and not a problem. Many people take having a baby as a lightly. Getting pregnant and having a kid has many pros/cons. Having a child can be very hard on some people and cause them to break. When babies are brought into this world there are a lot of things to worry about. The greatest problem associated with teen pregnancy is financial instability. Most teens do not have the salary to support a child. In the prevention of teen pregnancy there are many things that are helpful. Abstinence is a for sure way of not getting pregnant. There are also other helpful ways to help prevent teen pregnancy, such as sex education and birth control. All of these things are essential in the helping to prevent teenage pregnancy.