The Rates Of Teen Pregnancy Essay

Evidence has shown that the Latina community uses birth control at a lower rate than non-Hispanic whites, which also explains the high rates of teen pregnancy in this community. “One study focused on low income, Spanish speaking Latinas found that many women were misinformed about hormonal birth control, which is considered one of the most effective methods by health care workers. These Latina women did not know of the benefits of using hormonal birth control and feared harmful side effects. (guttmacher.org) . Cause of these fears is lack of proper sex education and mistrust of the medical community due to the history of sterilization campaigns targeting

Over the last few decades the rates in teen pregnancy have been a debate; did they rise over the past few years or did they actually decline? Contrary to some doctors and politicians the numbers associated with teen pregnancy have decline over the last couple of years. Although there are still people out there who believe this to be an issue it’s made more of an issue than it actually is. The ads and commercials are set out to scare teen-agers into believing that were at an all time high for this issue, but realistically its actually the exact opposite. Teen pregnancy rates haven’t dropped on there over the course of the years. There are a few major factors that have contributed a great deal to this change. Those changes include but are not limited to: more resources being available to these teenagers to prevent themselves from becoming pregnant, society is more open to talking about this issue as well as the religion and culture change aspect of families today. Despite the beliefs of others, teen pregnancy rates are at an all time low for the first time in decades.

Birth rates in African American and Hispanic teens are substantially higher than whites, a trend that has persisted for decades. Even though pregnancy rates among teens are at an all time low. It is still a major issue but mostly affecting the urban communities. In this research paper I will be comparing and demonstrating the relationships between teenage pregnancy, social issues, and education.

V. Marks, personal communication, March 31, 2017). Structural factors, including economic disadvantage, neighborhood characteristics, lack of access to family planning, and mistrust in the medical system underlie these findings (Dehlendorf, C., Harris, L. H., & Weitz, T. A., 2013). While some low income African American adolescent women do have access to insurance companies such as Medicaid to receive contraceptives, other women are still uninsured due to eligibility to receive such benefits. Due to lack of education involving contraceptives, safety concerns for many Black women are shaped by conspiracy beliefs about contraception arising from the history of the use of contraception to control the fertility of vulnerable populations (Dehlendorf, C., Rodriguez, M. I., Levy, K., Borrero, S., & Steinauer, J. , 2010). There are various concerns about contraceptives. The difficulty in using contraception effectively may be partly a result of less knowledge about birth control and reproduction in low income African American adolescent women. In other words, information provided to the patient about contraception also play a role in disparities. Further, the medical model for providing contraceptive information may not be equally acceptable to all populations or presented in a way for patients to understand. Recent studies have found that many minority women trust and rely more often on

Although the rate of teen pregnancies has decreased since the early 90s, the rate of African-American teen pregnancies and Hispanic teen pregnancies is still significantly higher white American teens. “ According to the US Teen Pregnancy Statistics Among Black and Hispanic women 15-19 the nationwide pregnancy rate they both were higher than a white woman. Well It's because poverty plays a major role in why these teens are the higher ethnic group in teen pregnancy. A black or Hispanic girl are not as open, with birth control and some don't have the health care needed. Most teens aren’t as opened to telling their parents their having sex.

Teenage birth rates, defined as live births per one thousand 15-19-year-old US females, declined by 10% from 2012 to 2013 from 29.4 to 26.5. In fact, the birth rate has been on a steady decline over the past 20 years, from 61.8 in 1991 to 26.5 in 2013. Teenage pregnancy represents both a health and social inequality in our society. Specifically, teenage childbearing is a public health issue because teenage mothers are more likely to experience negative social outcomes such as dropping out of school. This is a self-reinforcing cycle, as children of teenage mothers face higher chances of poor academic achievement as well as getting pregnant or getting someone else pregnant in their teenage years (CDC). Although the overall rates of teenage pregnancy have dropped, ultimately, the variations in the rates reflect the intersecting disparities regarding race and ethnicity, income inequality, geography, and environmental factors, which in turn affect access to medical care, education, and resources.

In this retrospective cohort study, data was taken from the 2009 National Survey of Reproductive and Contraceptive Knowledge to assess attitudes towards contraceptive use. Research shows that half of pregnancies in the US are unintended. In addition, African American and Hispanic females are less likely to use contraception compared to Caucasian females. It’s been determined that one possible factor influencing the use of contraception is lack of knowledge about contraception.

The purpose of this paper is to examine the impact of restrictive contraceptive legislation on unintended teenage pregnancy. Teenage pregnancy has declined steadily over the past 40 years, however in the past decade the rate of pregnancy among adolescents is rising. Restrictive contraceptive legislation such as abstinence only education, mandatory waiting periods, parental notification laws, or Medicaid funding restrictions could all play a part in the increase of pregnancy in teenagers. One study found funding for abstinence-only education programs were linked to increased birth rates among black and white adolescents (Yang & Gaydos, 2010). Another study found restrictive contraceptive legislation resulted in higher unintended pregnancy rates among adolescents. The implication of this review is state and federal policies should focus on improving education regarding contraception use and forming policies which improve access to abortion.

Lyons, Linda “Assessing the Patterns That Prevent Teenage Pregnancy” Health Source-Consumer Edition Spring 99, Vol. 34 Issue 133, p.221,

The incidence of teen births in the United States has reached a historic all time low throughout the last couple of years but teen girls are still giving birth to 1700 babies a week. However, minorities are still amongst the highest group of teenagers having children among the age group between 15 and 19 years of age. The highest ethnic groups were comprised of Hispanics and Non-Hispanic blacks making up 57% of all US teen births in 2011, according to a study done by the CDC in 2011. American Indians and Alaskan Natives had the third highest birth rates at about 36 births per 1000 females. The smallest occurrence of teen births per 1000 came from the Asian/Pacific Islander population. However, the continuously low population group with teen pregnancies involved White individuals so the question remains, why are most minority groups more likely to give birth within their teenage years?

Cultural beliefs, economic disparities, and social environment have all influenced unplanned pregnancies for latinas in Los Angeles. To aid in the prevention of unplanned pregnancies in Latino communities in Los Angeles, policymakers have readily accessible education in regards to Latina’s sexual and reproductive health. In addition to education, contraceptives and abortion should be easily accessible, to the Latino community, thus reducing the amount of Latinas continuing on forth with unplanned pregnancies, which perhaps can be

Even though we have seen a decrease over the past decade, teen pregnancies continue to be an issue of concern with a higher number of pregnancies seen in the African American community. The United States accounts more adolescence pregnancies compared to other countries (Santelli, Lindberg, Finer, & Singh, 2007). According to Feit, Wodarski, & Paschal (2013), “Nearly one million teen pregnancies between the ages of 15 and 19 take place yearly in the United States (p.106). A substantial decline of teen pregnancies from 1990’s to the early 2000’s. The United States still has the highest number of pregnancies, and the rise of teen pregnancies started to rise once again in the mid 2000’s (Martin, Hamilton, & Ventura, 2006).

This week’s assignment had me take a closer look on how environment truly influences teen pregnancy rates in my community. Teens living in poverty have a greater likelihood of becoming pregnant than teens living in affluent communities. What causes this disparity? Social and environmental factors are in large part responsible for the disparity. The adults in lower- income families are often less educated, have a criminal history, hold low-income jobs, or are unemployed. Lower income communities are plagued by gun violence, gang inhabitance, and the availability of drugs. Teens that become pregnant at an early age, have parents that themselves were pregnant as teens ("Teen Pregnancy Facts, Teen Pregnancy Statistics Teen Pregnancy - Environmental

Due to unintended pregnancy becoming a rapidly increasing occurrence in the United States, it is imperative to analyze the circumstances leading up to the pregnancy. According to Finer & Zolna ( as cited in Ayoola,Zandee, Johnson, & Pennings, 2014) in 2006 almost one half of all pregnancies in the United states were unintended. The risk for having an unintended pregnancy increases when there is contraceptive failure or effective contraceptives are not used ( Ayoola et al., 2014). Women who have less education and a lower income are more likely to misuse contraception or engage in contraceptive non use ( Ayoola et al., 2014). Ayoola et al’s research study in 2014 set out to display an overview of contraceptive use in low income women who lived in medically

"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.