Consequences Of Teen Pregnancy

Teen pregnancy continues to be a problem in America even though the CDC documents a decrease from 2007-2009 in all racial groups. (Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, n.d.). Reducing the number of pregnancies in teens 15-17 is a core indicator identified by Healthy People 2020 to assess the status of adolescent health. Children born to teens are at risk for health concerns from being of low birth weight and having poor prenatal care such as delayed development. (Magness, 2012). Repeat pregnancy, dependence on welfare, and poverty are some of the results of adolescent pregnancy. Teen mothers tend to have health problems such as hypertension, and anemia and are at high risk for early delivery. Magness looks at the issue from the teen’s viewpoint and discusses the idea that some teens become pregnant to provide stability in an otherwise chaotic life and can gain maturity from the experience. Emphasis on continuing their education after delivery can prevent repeat pregnancies. Lack of productive or positive social activities or guidance can leave room for a teen to indulge in risky behavior to occupy their time. Peer pressure and influence from present day norms can cause teenagers to give in to early onset of sexual activity (Kirven, 2014). Finding after school or extracurricular activities can promote a healthier self

Parenting at any age can be challenging but particularly difficult for adolescent parents. Aside from being difficult for adolescent parents there are a lot of negatives effects with bearing a child at a young age. The long-term consequences of adolescent childbearing for parents and their children compared to a standard age of childbearing are extensive. The negatives outcomes to adolescent childbearing are often poor for the parent and the child. Adolescent females often have diets low in calcium and iron. An increased requirement during pregnancy further increase the risk of iron deficiency anemia that has been reported with a prevalence of between 11% and 16% (2). Breastfeeding may also further deplete iron stores in those already at risk for iron deficiency anemia.

Girls who gave birth while still in high school only 38% of them graduate. The reason the rest of them drop out is since they are forced to work in order to support their child. Nearly all cannot manage parenthood, school, work without family or friends help. With teenage mothers “Their children showed reduced educational attainment, had more emotional and behavioral problems, were at increased risk of maltreatment or harm, and showed higher rates of illness, accidents and injuries.” (Dennison P. 6) Just in the state of Texas, in 2012, there were 44 births per 1,000 girls’ state wide. Nationwide 50% of pregnancies are accidental in 2006. Teen parents also are a financial load to society, According to the National Campaign to Prevent Teen Pregnancy, in 2004, all together taxpayers paid more than eight billion dollars to help support health cares designed to help the 420,000 teenage mothers who gave birth in that year. “results from economic analyses suggest that implementing evidence-based teen pregnancy prevention programs, expanding access to Medicaid family planning services, and utilizing mass media campaigns to promote safe sex may reduce teen pregnancy and save taxpayer dollars.” (Without the help of drugs like Plan B or any type of birth control, a large amount of teenage girls will become unplanned mothers, making more of a financial burden to society.

In 2015 there was about 3,978,497 births registered of teen moms in the United states. Teen pregnancy has been a big issue for many years. A large number of teenagers are having unprotected sex that lead to unwanted pregnancy. This issue cause young girls to make a decision on the future of the baby, weather it is to be aborted, given up for adoption or keeping the baby and raising it. This unwanted pregnancy also takes effect on these teenager's social life, school and work.

Teenage pregnancy is one of many issues that the United States has. It is one issue that can be fixed easily and should be waited upon until teens are married and know what they are doing with their lives. This issue came about in the early in the 1950’s – 1960’s. Teen pregnancy is a teenage girl between the ages 13-19 (girls who haven’t reached adulthood) having unwanted or wanted babies. Janet Bode once stated in her book, “Emotions run everywhere, scared, sad, disappointment and preparation for what is about to happen” (Bode 51). If we do not act now, teen pregnancy will be out the roof. Teen pregnancy needs a stop put to it no matter what, teens are still children themselves and they are still learning how to take care of themselves:

This year in America, over one million teens will become pregnant. More than 80% of these pregnancies will be unintended (North Carolina PRAMS 2009). Unintended pregnancy is commonly defined as “a pregnancy that is reported to have been either unwanted (that is, the pregnancy occurred when no children, or no more children, were desired) or mistimed (that is, the pregnancy occurred earlier than desired)” (CDC 2015). Though some teen pregnancies are intentional, these are rare in occurrence. Unplanned pregnancy leads to an increase in the number of abortions and abandoned children by mothers who are not in suitable financial, physical, or emotional states to take care of their children. It also puts young mothers and their babies at increased risk for complications during childbirth. Access to sufficient education and access to contraceptives impacts the rate of teen pregnancy. As the number of these potentially dangerous pregnancies inflates, it becomes clear that something must be done. Unintended pregnancies, especially in teens and young adults, are an epidemic in America; however, Americans have the potential change the path they are on.

Summary: The National Campaign to Prevent Teen Pregnancy wrote the article called, “Teen Pregnancy Is a Serious Problem,” stating that teen pregnancy is an issue in todays’ world. There are many negative effects of being a teen mom. In the United States, teen pregnancy is seen as being “ok” because it is normal in today’s world. Adolescents don't know how quickly a pregnancy can happen. When they asked the girls why they became pregnant they said, “It just kinda happened.” Also, many teen moms have more than one child before the age 24. A recent study

Some teenagers get pregnant due to not knowing about the consequences of unprotected sex. Most don’t know about any of the consequences because they don’t have anyone to talk to them about it and others just doesn’t want to listen. Parents don’t think their kids will ever think about having sex so they don’t feel the need to talk to them about it but that only leads to teenagers getting pregnant without being prepared with a stable job.

Young girls at that age are considered vulnerable and many seek psychological help to overcome the traumatic event. Children born to teen mothers can develop blindness, deafness, mental, respiratory and cerebral problems. Also the low birth weight puts the child at greater risk of dying as infants. Other social problem that pregnant teenagers face is economy. Most teenage girls struggle to finish school and earn a degree. Pregnant teenage girls live in poverty due to the lack of financial and educational stability. For instance, a study found that “low-income teens received such instruction 44% of the time, compared with 62% of higher-income teens. That disparity is particularly troubling, supporters say, because low-income and black and Hispanic teens are more prone to teen pregnancy than teens in general”. In most cases low income families are always struggling to provide to the family and adding teenage girls just makes the situation even worst. The lack of experience, financial and educational stability can limit the options of the child to succeed in life. The author of Teen Pregnancy: Does learning about birth control in school help prevent teen pregnancy? suggest that “teen pregnancy is often cited as a factor that perpetuates the cycle of poverty, since teen mothers are likely to be poor in the first place, and their children are likely to grow up to be poor. As a

Imagine coming to school one day and seeing 39 students pregnant. That’s the statistical reality of teen pregnancy as an estimated 34 in every 1000 students becomes pregnant between the age of 14-19, according to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC). This statistic does not take into account different educational, social, and racial factors. With widely popular television shows such as, "16 and Pregnant" or "Teen Mom", many teens do not fully comprehend the negatives of engaging in sexual activity, and do not realize the possible outcome. Becoming pregnant as a teen is very detrimental to one's education, in the fact that they may have to leave school, lose friends, and become an outcast

The number of teen pregnancies keeps getting higher and higher as the years go by. According to the Alan Guttmacher Institute, nearly 800,000 women under the age of 20 have gotten pregnant. Although it has declined, the rate of teen pregnancies in the United States is the highest of all the nations. It is degraded by society in most places and there is a stereotype that those who become pregnant always drop out of school and ruin their future and career goals. In some places people think it would be better for teen moms to not go back to school. Teen moms have the right to an education just like everybody else. Although it is hard for teens to keep getting an education and pursuing a career, it should still be an option and can be done with

About 727,000 U.S. teenage girls (12,000 of them younger than 15)-an estimated 20 percent of those who had sexual intercourse-became pregnan in the most recently reported year. Three factors heighten the incidence of adolescent pregnancy: effective sex education reaches too few teenagers, convient, low-cost contraceptive services for adolescents are scarce, and many families live in poverty, which encourages young people to take risks without considering the future implications of their behavior. Teenage parents are much more likely to be poor than those that choose to postpone parenthood. The lives of expectant teens, already troubled in many ways, tend to worsen in several aspects after the baby is born. Education is harder to attain, only about 70

Teens need youth-friendly services and complete, accurate information about abstinence, condoms, and contraception in order to protect themselves from unintended pregnancy. But they also need to be able to envision a positive future for themselves: one in which education, employment, and healthy relationships are possible. Further, empowering youth, and supporting women’s reproductive decisions, means pregnant or parenting teens should be supported, not stigmatized, by both government and culture. But i believe that the cause of teen pregnancy is all

It takes a village to raise a child, or at least it was once believed to. It seems each year parents are getting younger in age, and the birth rate is rising higher. Mississippi has the highest birth rates in teen pregnancy, and has held this title for the past few years. This problem has had such a rise to fame because this is a problem that can be prevented. Parents and communities should take action to help lower the teen pregnancy birth rate in Mississippi.

"Teen pregnancy in the United States: In 2015, a total of 229,715 babies were born to women aged 15-19 years old, for a birth rate of 22.3 per 1,000 women in this age group. This is another record for U.S. teens and a drop of 8% from 2014. Although reasons for the declines are not totally clear, evidence suggests these declines are due to more teens abstaining from sexual activity, and more teens who are sexually active using birth control than in previous years. Still, the U.S. teen pregnancy rate is substantially higher than in other western industrialized nations, and racial/ethnic and geographic disparities in teen birth rates persist (cdc.gov)." As teenagers (in the United States), we are peer pressured or tempted to try new things. Some teens tend to try out drugs, and alcohol. However, some are having unprotected sex in which, is leads to having babies. This is called, teenage pregnancy. This has caused the United States to create records based off of the statistics and facts given from, researchers across the United States. In order to help prevent teenage pregnancy in the United States, teenagers must understand why, having a baby now isn’t such a smart move on their part.