Adolescent pregnancy refers to pregnancies occurring in those under the age of nineteen. There are two types of pregnancies they are unintended and intended. An intended pregnancy is one that is desired when the woman finds out that she is pregnant (Guttmacher Institute, 2015). Unintended pregnancy refers to mistimed or unwanted pregnancy for example, mistimed pregnancy occurs in 31% of pregnancies, whereas unwanted meaning that they do not want to be pregnant presently or in the future, for example, unwanted pregnancy occurs 20% in pregnancies (Guttmacher Institute, 2015). Statistics of teen pregnancy across the board include rate of pregnancy was 71.5 per 1,000 women between the ages of 15 and 19, the birthrate was 41.9 births per 1,000,
Teen mothers are often forced to work long hours in order to provide their child and themselves, have less quality time with their baby, and neglect (McWhirter et al., 2012).There are also social consequences of teen pregnancy that include that there is an additional 460,000 children that would be living in poverty, that nearly 700,000 more children would be living in single-mother households, teen childbearing costs taxpayers at least $9 billion each year, and that teen girls in foster care are two and a half times more likely than their peers not in foster care to experience a pregnancy by the age of 19 (The National Campaign to Prevent Teen Pregnancy, when means Take Care of Yourself and the Girltalk program. The Cuidate program is considered a health-promotion intervention. The age group for the Cuidate program is 13 to 18 (grades 8 to 11), is available in English and in Spanish, and be used in either a school or community-based setting. According to the program developer Antonia Villarruel (2012) Cuidate “emphasizes Latino cultural beliefs to frame abstinence and condom use as culturally accepted and effective way to prevent unwanted pregnancy and sexually transmitted diseases” (p. 1). Secondly this program increasing skill level and self-efficacy so that Latino’s can communicate effectively with their partners about whether they are going to have sex, if they decide to have sex they will use condoms, they will learn about the prevention of HIV and other STDs (Vallarruel, 2012). The core components include incorporating activities that increase knowledge and influence positive attitudes, beliefs and self-efficacy regarding HIV sexual risk-reduction behaviors, building participant’s skills in problem solving, negotiation of safer-sex and refusal of unsafe sex, and have the sessions be interactive and participation is required versus just listening to a lecture (Vallarruel, 2012). This program is a six module curriculum which includes the following: an introduction and overview, building knowledge and pregnancy, STDs, and HIV, understanding vulnerability
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.
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.
To begin with, there are many common reasons why teenage pregnancy takes place. In fact, 60% of teenage mothers come from economically disadvantaged households and perform poorly in school. Alex McKay, research coordinator for the Sex Information and Education Council of Canada, explains, "Young women who feel optimistic about their future tend not to get pregnant. Young women who are starting to feel discouraged about their employment are more likely to get pregnant." Moreover, 79% of teen pregnancies happen to unmarried teen couples. The male is usually older than the female in the relationship, and pressures the girl into having unprotected sex. Girls born to teenage mothers also have a 22% higher chance of becoming teen moms themselves, for they often live in a poor environment, like their mothers once did. Significantly, those affected by teenage pregnancy have many similarities.
Children born to teen mothers are also twice as likely to be victims of abuse and neglect” In other words, due to the lack of education a teen parent tend to have, it will affect the child because the parent will not be to provide a correct one. Also, the majority of teen pregnancies tend to be unplanned. Therefore, children are who suffer since they were not desired hurting their esteem and assertiveness.
Encouraging the use of widely translators, professional interpreters, seminars, videos, wall posters ,phone message, campaign, internet access, hand on hand, or person to person individual rapprochements can help the HIV disease. Education is important for this community. When you educate them by using simple and understanding the method. Example use of pictures, posters and diagram will help especially with the lower education and language barrier individual. The individual capability, learning, and understanding more than the readiness is very important about teaching. Keep in mind that every individual learning capacity or ability is varied. Simple and easy method will help the Hispanic/Latino population understand better. Positive attitude towards HIV disease also is important. Also explaining to them about safe sex, and using protection. Asking questions, teach back, method or demonstration will be helpful in educating the learners. Very few Hispanic/Latino people know about HIV screening programs, prevention and treatments, medicines, and the use of condoms. So we must make people aware of HIV screening program, prevention and treatments, medicines, and use condoms or such so it will promote the wellness of the disease. Some people that are diagnosed with HIV may die because of the lack of knowledge that treatments are available. The internet can also help the Hispanic/Latino population deal with the HIV
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)
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).
Latina women in the United States are at higher risk for unplanned, or even planned, pregnancy during their adolescent years. Moreover, young Latinos, both male and female, are disproportionately affected by sexually transmitted diseases and infections (STDs and STIs), including Human Immunodeficiency Virus (HIV) (Flores, Eyre and Millstein). An article published in 2010 by the Journal of Perspectives on Sexual and Reproductive Health report Latino women being almost three times more likely to give birth between the ages of 15 and 19 compared to non-Latina Whites in the same age range; overall they have the highest pregnancy and birthrate among all ethnic groups in the United States (Deardorff et al.) In the last 15 years, birth rates have been rapidly decreasing in both White and Black teens.
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).
Teen mothers go through many problems- that consists health problems, economical problems and social problems. They receive poor prenatal care and have many complications during pregnancy. They have psychological distress, depressive symptoms and high suicidal rates. School dropouts are also higher among pregnant teens than non pregnant teens. Because of school dropout, most of teens work in unskilled jobs. They are not able to find good jobs because of low education. (Lee & Hahm, 2010)
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.
Thesis Statement: Within America, there is a teen pregnancy epidemic across all socioeconomic backgrounds, presenting commonalities as to the causes and ramifications of adolescents emerging as a growing parental population.
“In 2012, there were 29.4 births for every 1,000 adolescent females ages 15-19, or 305,420 babies born to females in this age group” (Hamilton). Teenage pregnancies were once regarded as normal. Women were once expected to be married and have a family at a young age to ensure lifelong stability. In modern times, teenage pregnancy is considered a taboo subject. MTV began a reality television show in 2009 that popularized pregnancy amongst adolescent females. There are many factors that add to the risk of becoming pregnant during adolescent years, but glamorizing the subject has shown to be the top reason.
A number of teens do not want to become pregnant, although some are not opposed and other has ambivalent attitudes (Bruckner, Martin, & Bearman, 2004, p. 535-557). Therefore having a healthy understanding of factors associated with a desire for pregnancy among teens, health care providers may better predict the most at risk teens. Many teenagers from the age of 15-19 carry mixed feelings concerning childbirth. Although the optimistic teens increase the risk to unprotected sex, and some were negative against the spectrum to protect against early pregnancy. A careful details study on attitudes indicates a small number of adolescents embraced pregnancy in the future; a large group of teenagers is unsure about becoming pregnant.