Introduction:
Teenage pregnancy refers to pregnancy of a woman who is less than 19 years. It is found commonly amongst young people who have been disadvantaged and have poor expectations with regard to either their education or job market
The Limpopo Province is one of nine provinces of the Republic of South Africa and is situated in the far northern part of the country; its capital city is Polokwane. The province is divided into five districts namely: Vhembe, Mopani, Capricorn, Waterberg and Sekhukhuni.
Teenage pregnancy has become a national epidemic, partly because more and more teenagers who give birth decide to keep and raise their children. There is a great cost to individuals, families and society when children have children of their own. Adolescents lack knowledge of access to conventional methods of preventing pregnancy, as they may be afraid to seek such information or be ignorant on the effects and consequences of falling pregnant; keeping the baby; terminating their pregnancy; contraction of viruses and even diseases.
Teenage pregnancy results in “overpopulation” and a very high proportion of youthful population. Besides, there are most noticeable consequences related to teenage pregnancies which include: school drop-out or interrupted education; waywardness and criminal activities; abortion; and child neglect; poverty etc. Pregnant teenagers are less likely to complete high school and attend tertiary institutions.
Factors contributing to teenage pregnancy:
Several factors are strongly associated with and contribute to the increased risk of an early pregnancy. These factors include:
Lack of knowledge about sex and how to use contraceptives;
Barriers to access contraceptives including negative attitudes of health ...
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... of Report Implication for Community
Musa Mkalipi
Media Club South Africa
6 September 2013
[http://www.mediaclubsouthafrica.com/]
SABC News
Sunday 16 June 2013 12:55
[http://www.sabc.co.za/]
Ndivhuwo Musetha
The South African Health News Service
November 4, 2013 in OurHealth
[http://www.health-e.org.za/]
Silas Nduvheni
SA News
14 April 2011
[http://www.sanews.gov.za/]
Limpopo Province This report simply focuses on the increasing pregnancy rate in the Limpopo province, ways to prevent or reduce it, consequences of teenage pregnancy, and its effects on the teenager, parents, community. Poverty increases.
Teenagers might drop out of school to raise their baby.
Financial imbalance for the community as new health facilities must be built.
More day care centers must be created in order to accommodate all the children.
Population growth increasing rapidly.
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.
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.
After a teen gets pregnant they start thinking of a way to hide it from their parents,The big problems start then. Many reasons teens think of are suicide, abortion and many other reasons. Abortions are becoming more frequent due to the ignorance and intolerance of certain societies around the world. This leads to the death of many teenage mothers as well as their children. There a lot of things that can cause an unplanned teen pregnancy, such as teens experimenting with sexual encounters at a young age. Another reason is the lack of guidance due to parents that do not take care of their children. For some, these pregnancies are planned but 85% of these teens pregnancy is unplanned (Website Title: Teen Ink,Article Title: Teenage Pregnancy,Date Accessed: April 03, 2014).
It has been said that teens across the world have not been receiving enough sex education. This has led to many issues with teens becoming pregnant, which most of the time is unanticipated. Teenage pregnancy has been a social problem throughout the world for a number of decades now. Many studies have been completed in several countries that pertain to the amount of teens and the types of teens who are becoming pregnant. Rates among teens had been declining for some time, but are starting to take a turn and increase. This is still a significant social problem, though some people do not perceive it like it is.
Teen pregnancy has become an epidemic in the United States alone. Today, more than half of all teenagers report having had sexual intercourse at least once before leaving high school (Glazer, 1993). Each year, almost 750,000 U.S. women, aged 15–19 become pregnant (Guttmacher Institute, 2011).
In America, one million teenagers get pregnant every year (National Abortion Federation, 2003). Of these pregnancies, 78% are unplanned because these teenagers start having sex at a very young age and are unaware of ways to prevent pregnancies. Thirty-five percent of the pregnant teenagers chose to abort, as they fear that the consequences of the pregnancy might have significant effects on their lives. The problems that come with teenage pregnancies include dropping out of school, receiving inadequate prenatal care, developing health problems, relying on public assistance to raise a child, and probably divorcing their partners. In most states, the law allows pregnant teenagers to take their babies for adoption without consulting their parents.
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.
Sex before marriage has always been a major issue. Teen pregnancy seems to double yearly: with no sign of stopping. Some teens use contraceptives and birth control incorrectly. They think pregnancy just can’t happen to them. In a lot of cases their embarrassed to buy protection or just simply unsure of how to use them. Many unplanned pregnancies happen beca...
Several causes for teen pregnancy are: the need for affection, acceptance, and unprotected sex. One may have a poor home life and look for affection from a peer. The simple desire to feel loved by another person may be a cause for an unexpected pregnancy. A teen may have a low self-esteem and simply be looking for acceptance in the bedroom. However, many teens that have a wonderful, affectionate family and are very confidante are merely looking for the few minutes of pleasure and avoid using protection. As several teens use the excuse that sex feels better with out a condom, an unwanted pregnancy is likely to occur.
Babies are born more likely to be born premature and/or suffer low birth weight. There are a lot of problems involved with children having children. There is a higher risk of low birth rate, premature labor, and stillbirth. The problem is teenage girls are not done growing and fully maturing, there for, when they become pregnant it induces problems not only on the baby but the mother as well. *A general rule: The younger the mother, the greater risk of complications for both the mother and child. Often pregnant teenage mothers deny the fact that they are indeed pregnant, therefor ignoring the proper care that she needs for the growing baby inside of her. There are no easy answers; that’s one thing that everyone agrees on when it comes to the problem of teen pregnancy. The Center of Disease Control and prevention affirmed on June 26 what other agencies, such as the National Center for Health Statistics, have been saying over the course of this year: “The teen pregnancy rate is dropping. The number of teenage girls across the country who became pregnant fell 12 percent between 1991 and 1996. This drops affects girls, of different races and socioeconomic backgrounds, in all states. But the problem remains; The U.S. teen pregnancy rate is the highest of any industrialized countries. Babies born in the U.S. to teenager mothers are at risk for long-term problems in many major areas of life, including school failure, poverty, and physical or mental illness. The teenage mothers themselves are also at risk for these problems.
In conclusion teen pregnancy has hard an effect on society, in many ways. Most teen pregnancies were not planned. CFOS says that about 65% of teen pregnancy's were not even discussed with their sexual partners. All of the other percentage of teen pregnancy's were not planned either, but it had been discussed with the teen's sexual partner at some point in time. Most teens began having sex without knowing the consequences. Teenagers need to take responsibility and remember to keep safe, because there are various ways to prevent teen pregnancy, for example abstinence, sex education, and various types of birth control; because these methods are available children should not be brought into this world mistakenly.
A wide range of teenage pregnancy is unplanned and therefore more risk factors are experienced especially the socioeconomic
The problem with teenage pregnancy is it requires intervention from society. This debate is from the perspective of teens, and absent from the medical, ethical, and political views on teen pregnancy. According to Jewell, Tacchi, & Donovan, (2000), teen pregnancy is not a problem for teens themselves but more of a problem for society. The large numbers of unintended pregnancies are among unmarried teens.
Many younger women make babies every year in UK. In England alone, over 7,000 teenagers under the age of 16 are impregnated every year. Close to half of the teenagers go on to deliver-bouncing babies. Large section of the 7000 teenage girls is of age 15 as many were even younger (ONS, 2008). The research to be undertaking will delve deep into the causes and effects of teenage pregnancy in UK.
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.