Unintended Pregnancy : An American Epidemic Essay

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

Teen pregnancy falls into the category of pregnancies in girls age 19 or younger (NIH). Although statistics have shown a decrease, the number of teen pregnancy in the U.S. is still relatively high compared to the rest of the world. Sexual health is one of the top priorities in early adolescence health in the United States. Consequences of having sex at a young age generally results in unsafe sex practices. The consequences can be due to the lack of knowledge about sex education, and access to birth control/contraception (NIH, 2005). Due to the lack of knowledge and access to birth control, adolescents involve in risk taking when they start to explore sexual intimate relationships.

Teenage pregnancy has long been acknowledged as an important health, social and economic problem in the United States, one that creates hardships for women and families and threatens the health and well-being of women and their infants. Unintended pregnancies span across age, race and religion, with a specific negative impact among the teenage population. According to the Center for Disease Control (CDC, 2016) In 2015, a total of 229,715 babies were born to women aged 15–19 years, for a birth rate of 22.3 per 1,000 women in this age group. Birth rates are also higher among Hispanic and African American adolescents than any other race. In 2014, Hispanic adolescent females ages 15-19 had the highest birth rate of 38 births per 1,000

The United States of America is known for many of its outlandish and outrageous statistics in comparison to other countries. Statistics regarding obesity, homicide rates, and political issues have displayed many of the nation?s weak points. However, the amount of teen pregnancy has become so excessive that it is becoming a cry for help and a statistic that is greatly standing out and can no longer be ignored. In 1999 about one million teenagers experienced a pregnancy. This rate was twice the amount in England, Wales, and Canada and nine times greater than that of the Netherlands and Japan. About 78% of these American teenage pregnancies were said to be unplanned.

Unintended pregnancy continues to be a growing controversy in the United States. There are many women and female adolescents that are faced with unintended pregnancies. Many have to decide whether to continue with their pregnancy or end their pregnancy. The most common method used to end an unintended pregnancy is by an abortion. However, many women and especially adolescents are not aware of an alternative method used to prevent an unintended pregnancy called Emergency Contraception (EC). This paper will explore unintended pregnancy, EC, pro-emergency contraception and anti-emergency contraception opinions. There are many women of childbearing age that have become pregnant unintentionally in the United States. As a result, many have

Where in the first world would one expect the teen pregnancy rate to be the highest? Surprisingly, it is the United States that has the highest teen pregnancy rate of any first world country, more than double the rate of twenty other first world countries and almost ten times greater than that of Switzerland. While some of the disparity can be attributed to factors such as income inequality, the presence of abstinence only education has a major impact on birth and STD rates in the United States in comparison to other countries with more comprehensive programs. It is clear that this difference in approaches has a significant effect, and the United States needs to act to ensure the health of its citizens. Urgent actions are necessary

The United States has the highest rates of teen pregnancy and births in the western industrialized world. Teen pregnancy costs the United States at least $7 billion annually. Family First Aid has stated that “thirty-four percent of young women become pregnant at least once before they reach the age of 20 — about 820,000 a year. Eight in ten of these teen pregnancies are unintended and 79 percent are to unmarried teens.”

On average, women in the U.S. typically want to have two children (“Unintended Pregnancy in the United States”). In order to accomplish this, a woman will have to spend around three years pregnant, postpartum or attempting to become pregnant. They will also have to spend about three decades trying to avoid an unintended pregnancy, which is more than three-quarters of her reproductive life (“Unintended Pregnancy in the United States”). There are many different reasons that contribute to why most couples and individuals may want to plan the timing of when they have children, while also avoiding unintended pregnancies. Pregnancies can be expensive. Total costs to U.S. taxpayers from unintended pregnancies have been estimated to range from

According to the CDC (2017), the teen pregnancy rate in the United States is substantially higher than in other western industrialized nations. In addition, childbearing adolescents are less likely to finish high school, more likely to rely on public assistance, more likely to be poor as adults, and more likely to have children similarly affected, which consequentially affects the parents themselves, their children, and society (U. S. Department of Health and Human Services, Office of Adolescent Health [USHHS/OAH], 2014). Alarming statistics and factual information like this clearly indicate that there is a serious issue for the nation to address. Therefore, an excellent point that was mentioned, and one that I would like to expand upon is

Teenage pregnancy has become an identified social problem and the focus of much concern. The United States has the highest rate of teen pregnancy in the fully industrialized world. While the rates have been declining in the last fifteen years, it remains a source of concern that, nearly thirty-four percent of teenage girls in the United States are becoming pregnant at least once before the age of twenty. The teenage pregnancy in the United States rate is ten times that of Japan, four times those of France and Germany, and nearly twice that of Great Britain. Eighty percent of these pregnancies are unintended and seventy-nine percent are to unmarried teens (Davies, McKinnon, & Rains, 2001). Only a third of teen mothers graduate from high school. Eight out of ten unmarried teen moms wind up on welfare. The children of teen moms do less well in school and are at a higher risk of neglect and abuse than children born to women age twenty and older (Bissell, 2000).

While many people are inclined to express indifference regarding this concept, teen pregnancy is one of the most controversial topics in the contemporary society. This experience can be devastating for some individuals, as the fact that they are raw makes it difficult for them to effectively deal with the problem. Society becomes more stressing and most teens who become pregnant come to express feelings related to shame and fear. The fact that these individuals are hesitant about letting their parents know that they are pregnant contributes to their problems and finding help sometimes becomes an impossible mission. Lack of life experience materializes into a more severe type of stress, endangering both the mother and the child.

How many pregnant teens have there been? Over the years more girls are becoming teen moms. In Oklahoma teen pregnancy has become a problem. Recently Oklahoma has had a pregnancy rate of 47.5% (Tulsa World). Not only is it an issue in Oklahoma but an issue in the United States as a whole. The lack of awareness and how to prevent pregnancy is a reason to blame for the increasing numbers. The more we don’t make people aware of the increasing teen pregnancy rate and how to prevent then the numbers will continue to rise into an astonishing amount. Helping teens know of the different ways to prevent pregnancy can make an enormous difference in teen pregnancy. The issues that have an effect on teen pregnancy rates have been to the use of

Teen pregnancy continues to be a public health concern in the United States. Compared to other industrialized nations, the USA ranks higher in teen pregnancy and abortion rates than other Westernized countries (Segeh, Finer, Bankole, Eilers , Singh 2015). It was estimated that in the year 2015, 229,715 babies were born to teenagers in the United States (Martin et al., 2017). Medical research has shown that teen pregnancy is associated with adverse outcomes for the mother and the child. Children born to teen mothers are more likely to have low birth weights, are less likely to be breastfed and are at a higher risk for infant death (Chen et al., 2007). In addition to the potential clinical challenges, teen motherhood can present a new set of barriers for future socioeconoimical well-being. Teen mothers are less likely finish high school, are delayed in joining the workforce and are more likely to remain single ( Hoffman & Maynard, 2008).

"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.

The teen pregnancy rate had decreased by the maximum of about 55 percent. Most teen birth rates had also gone down about 64 percent, but yet teen pregnancies and birth rate for teenagers ages 15-19 in the U.S still remains one of the highest comparable countries. Due to parenthood, most of teen moms drop out of school. More than 50% of teen mothers never graduate to get their diploma. Sexually active teens that don’t use any type of protection has a 90 percent chance of becoming pregnant within a year, 84 percent of teen pregnancies are unplanned.