Teen Pregnancy
“The United States has one of the highest teen pregnancy rates in the western industrialized world (“11 Facts About Teen Pregnancy). Babies are little bundles of joy, but they are a lot of responsibility. Teen Pregnancy has many things to be concerned with, such as: how many teen girls become pregnant each year in the US, food, clothing, diapers, bedding, doctor bills, bathing, how many girls do not finish high school because of pregnancy, birth defect, miscarriage, and still birth.
Statistics are a way of gathering information. “11 Facts about Teen Pregnancies” observed that “three in ten American teen girls will get pregnant at least once before age twenty. That’s nearly 750,000 teen pregnancies every year” (“11 Facts About Teen Pregnancies”). In other words, many girls will become a mother before they are an adult. “National & State Data” says “the number of teen pregnancies are 305,388” (“National & State Data”). In other words, many girls will become a mother before they are an adult.
Most of the time, girls drop out of school due to pregnancy. According to “Drop Out Rate Among Pregnant Teens” “about 70 percent of all students who drop out of school early, do so because of teen pregnancy” (“Drop Out Rate Among Pregnant Teens”). Then again, according to “Drop Out Rate Among Pregnant Teens” t”he drop out rate among pregnant teens is 90 percent across the United States” (“Drop Out Rate Among Pregnant Teens”). That is a numerous amount of people that will never walk across the stage, which means it might be harder for them to find work and support a family.
Most people look forward to graduation from high school and going off to college. However, according to “Postcard: Teen Pregnancy Affects Graduation Rates” ...
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...cy are more likely than other woman to have a miscarriage” (“Center for Disease Control and Prevention”). If the mother does not have a miscarriage from smoking, it can cause other dangers. “Smoking during pregnancy can cause a baby to be born too early or to have low birth weight... A few babies may even die” (“Center for Disease Control and Prevention”). In other words, smoking while pregnant can cause a baby to be born too early which can lead to death.
A baby born to a teen mom is at risk to be born premature. According to “Complications With Teenage Pregnancy” “Teenage mothers face the possibility of premature labor, or labor that starts before thirty-seven weeks gestation...” (“Complications With Teenage Pregnancy”). It is normal for young girls to want a baby, but it is better to wait until you are an adult, so you will be more likely to have a baby on time.
Manlove, J. (1998) The influence of high school drop out and school disengagement on the risk of school age pregnancy, Journal of Research on Adolescence, 8, 182-185
Being a parent is very demanding and can be hard. The difficulties that come with an unplanned pregnancy in teens can have a profound effect on their life. Their physical, social, mental, and emotional health will all be affected by a sudden change in the course of their life. Teens impacted with an unplanned pregnancy will have to give up many things in order to be a parent. In addition, they will have to take on many more responsibilities that accompany pregnancy and parenthood. All in all, having an unplanned pregnancy and becoming a parent introduce many new responsibilities and difficulties.
As everyone knows, teen pregnancy rate is increasing more and more each day and someone needs to do something to try and either stop it or decrease it dramatically. Teen pregnancy is causing dramatic population increase and that’s just common sense. Teens getting pregnant at such a young age is also causing poverty levels to go up more and more. Mississippi Spent over $100 million on teen pregnancy alone in the year 2010 (“Teen Pregnancy”). Just think of what it is now. More teens are dropping out of school and not finishing their education. According to the authors of this article, “approximately 30 percent of teen mothers have mothers who dropped out of high school, 40 percent have mothers who are mothers who dropped out of high school, 40 percent have mothers who are high school graduates, and 30 percent have mothers who attended college”(Kearny et al 143). Many people don’t realize that there are many effects of teen pregnancy including higher risk of birth defect, more likely to drop out, and also abortion rates increase.
Studies show that within the last seven years there has been a dramatic drop in the number of teen pregnancies. Teen pregnancy is best known as, the act of getting pregnant between the ages of fifteen and nineteen. Teen pregnancy does not come with much of a history. In the past, (mostly in the late 1800’s and early 1900’s) it was common for girls to be married between the ages of fourteen and sixteen and give birth not long after. Some girls were having babies as young as thirteen and fourteen years old! During the times that young girls would bear children and be married so young, college and education was not an important factor. As a young girl you learned how to take care of your house, farm, laundry, crops, animals, husband, and children. The father was your main source of income. Obviously things in our time are very different. Over the years a growing importance for education and making a living on your own has become crucial to many women. It was no longer important to have children so soon, but to learn to be a strong, educated, and independent woman. Even now as time has gone by, the image of being a pregnant teenage girl has been glorified solely by media. It becomes less important to get an education so you can get a good job and be able to raise a child and give them a good life, and more important to get pregnant and get a chance to be worshiped nationally on t.v. for being pregnant and making all of your money through fame.
The Feminist Women’s Health Center explain that teenagers who are sexually active who does not use any contraception has a 90 percent chance of becoming pregnant within the first 12 months of being sexually active. Teens also become pregnant when contraceptive methods, such as birth control pills and condoms fail. In those groups of teens who become pregnant, more than one-third obtain an abortion, a forceful termination of the pregnancy through the removal of the embryo or fetus from the uterus. (Welton)
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. Consequences of unsafe sexual behavior include sexually transmitted infections and pregnancy (NIH, 2005). This paper will focus on the majority aspect of pregnancy in adolescent.
During a pregnancy there are many choices to be made and smoking should not be one of them. Smoking while pregnant can cause major effects before the birth of the child and also in the child’s future. Here are a few effects before the actual birth of the child: 1) Cigarettes contains a large number of chemicals that harm unborn babies. 2) Smoking raises the levels of carbon monoxide in your bloodstream. This gives less oxygen for baby. 3) Nicotine tightens the blood vessels, meaning the oxygen is passed over less effectively to the baby 4) Miscarriage or stillborn.
The past two decades have shown a decline in adolescent pregnancy but today, the United States continues to hold the number one position for highest adolescent pregnancy rates among developed countries.1 Research has found that about two in every five teenage girls become pregnant before the age of twenty years old.2 The recurrence of early childhood bearing now reaches up to 900,000 pregnancies each year in the United States.1 The various factors associated with high prevalence of teenage motherhood can be seen among communities affected by low socioeconomic status, a lack of education, and more interestingly, a new found correlation between the history of intergenerational, teenage childhood bearing with the family.2 Communities facing these problems continue to sustain such high statistical values for teenage pregnancy and have created a vicious cycle which is then adopted by following generations. Adolescent pregnancy not only creates a toll on the family, but also has adverse health effects on the child and society.
The Effects of Smoking during Pregnancy. Most women have heard that smoking is very deadly to the human body and can cause cancer, heart disease, and other major health problems, yet it is still an ongoing problem. Around the world, about 250 million women use tobacco every day and this number is increasing rapidly, according to data presented at the 2009 14th World Conference on Tobacco and Health in Mumbai (March of Dimes, 2011). Not only do women smoke, some choose to continue to smoke while pregnant. Smoking during pregnancy is a worldwide problem, although it is more common in developed countries such as the US, where an estimated 18 percent of pregnant women smoke.
Finally, some teenagers just need to work. Each year around 750,000 high school female students become pregnant, and as we all know babies add enormous stress to your pocket book.
It has been known that young people who drop out of high school and do not earn a diploma come to face more problems later in life. Some struggles they may experience are unemployment, poor health, turn to drugs & alcohol, and live in poverty. High school students who dropped out before graduating are more likely to drink, smoke, use illegal drugs, committing crimes, and becoming teen parents. In the states of North Carolina alone it is known that approximately 53 teens become pregnant every day, North Carolina is said to have the 9th highest rate for teen pregnancy ...
Teen pregnancy, it’s one of the growing problems in today’s society. Teens today have more problems than ever, and in many cases the parents mistake signs of the problems for mere puberty phase. Beginning problem, which often trigger the others, seem to be families. Deeply religious families are most often heavily strict, and that prevents the teenagers to be informed about real life and what are they getting into. When that kind of person gets in a situation where his or her peers are more experienced then them, the outcome is a pressure. During the puberty the teenagers, especially males, are having problems with controlling their needs. It is easy to get pregnant for today’s teenagers, because they face many unbearable problems.
Many teens become overwhelmed with the stresses of high school and raising a baby; therefore, dropping out of school may seem like the best option. Attending school five days a week, studying for classes, and raising a baby would be overwhelming for most teens. One would have to pay for babysitting and many other expenses for the child that a part time job income could not cover. Dropping out of high school to work full time may seem like a great idea at the moment, but the jobs one applies for may be limited because the lack of a high school diploma.
Though much of the research on school completion emphasizes the psychological traits of students and organizational characteristics of school systems, little has examined the impact of health. Yet health affects school dropout rates directly and indirectly. Substance abuse, teen pregnancy, and mental health problems are some of the leading causes of students dropping out. Teenage pregnancy, for example, is the number one reason adolescent women drop out of school; about 30%–40% of female dropouts are mothers (Freudenberg & Ruglis, 2007). At the same time, young men drop out in order to support a child. Addiction, mental illness, and mortality among parents also have significant impact on student achievement
One main aspect the article talked about was how a teenager will experience intense emotion once she has missed a period or finds out that she is pregnant. She then has to try to figure out a great deal of things such as: how she feels about being pregnant, how she will tell her parents, what she will tell the father, etc. All of this intense emotional upheaval will interfere with her education and her life greatly. The article also talked about pregnant teens dropping out of high school and according to the article, “having a baby is the leading reason why teenage girls drop out of school. Less than 50 percent of all teens that become pregnant will graduate from high school” (Theobald). Another thing the article talked about was that a pregnant teen may also suffer discrimination or ridicule from schoolmates, teachers, and administrators. She could also be discriminated against when looking for a job. She may also be kicked out of or feel unwanted or like an outcast from activities and groups she was apart before she got pregnant. The article said this about the physical effects, “once you are pregnant, there is no easy way out physically” (Theobald). Pregnant teen girls may have a normal, healthy pregnancy if they are healthy before becoming pregnant, go to the doctor for pre-natal