What Is Teen Pregnancy?

1243 Words3 Pages
bulb-icon

Recommended: Benefits of sexual education for adolescents

Teen pregnancy is a major issue in the world and is related to many different factors. In 2014, the World Health Organization (WHO) indicates that the average global birth rate among 15 to 19 year olds is 49 per 1000 girls (WHO, 2014). While, teen pregnancy rates have dropped 11 percent worldwide in the past years, pregnancy and childbirth in adolescents are the second cause of maternal and infant death (WHO, 2014). Adolescent pregnancy is a global issue, and nurses are the first in line to educate, prevent, and advise adolescents about complications to decrease the rates of mortalities and fetal abnormalities related to teen pregnancy.
Adolescent Pregnancy is a major problem and is seen across many different countries. Almost every year, …show more content…

Studies show that public schools that teach about sex education along with abstinence and safe sex practices tend to have lower teen pregnancy rates (Stangler-Hall and Hall 2011). More often than not, lack of education is present in low income areas and it is a problem because adolescents are not being taught about their bodies, sex, sexually transmitted diseases, and prevention of pregnancy. Results suggest that teens with more education, living in urban areas, and belonging to higher income families have a lower probability of becoming pregnant (CDC, 2014). Adolescents living in urban areas have greater access to preventative care, such as condoms and other methods of birth control, as opposed to their rural …show more content…

Although nurses who work in hospitals educate teens about preventing another pregnancy, school nurses play a larger role in overall prevention. Also, many school nurses are identified by students and teachers as trusted confidential sources adolescents can go to, therefore, making the discussion of preventing STDs and pregnancy easier (Brewin, Koren, Morgan, Shipley, & Hardy, 2013). A school nurse has many roles and one role is to promote healthy attitudes and by gaining trust from adolescents, school nurses will be able provide detailed education about sex (Board, et al, 2011).School nurses can also provide information about prenatal vitamins, intake of folic acid and iron to reduce the risk of complications. Also, with better access to sex education and contraception from nurses, it can help reduce the numbers of unwanted teen pregnancies (CDC,

Show More
Related

  • The Controversy of Sex Education Programs in High School

    715 Words  | 2 Pages

    How many girls have you see around school who are pregnant? Do you ever come to think that they may not have had the “sex talk” with their parents or any sort of sex education at school? “The United Stated still has the highest teen pregnancy rate of any industrialized country. About 40 percent of American women become pregnant before the age of 20. The result is about 1 million pregnancies each year among women ages 15 to 19.” (The Annie E. Casey Foundation) At the age 15-20 most teen males and females don’t have a stable job and are still going to school. There is much at risk when a male and female decide to have sexual intercourse. Having a sex education class would help decrease the teen pregnancy rate. Learning what one can do to prevent a teen pregnancy and the consequences that can lead up to it, will help reduce the amount of sexual activity among teens. Having a sex education class that is required will benefit the upcoming teens of the next generation. Some parents don’t want their teens to have premarital sex and some parents don’t want the schools to be the ones responsible to teach their kids about sex education because they feel like it’s their job. There has been much controversy on sex education being taught at school.

    Read More

  • Teen Pregnancy

    644 Words  | 2 Pages

    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.

    Read More

  • Unwanted and Unplanned Teen Pregnancy and Sexually Transmitted Illness

    1552 Words  | 4 Pages

    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.

    Read More

  • Canada 's Teenage Pregnancy Rate

    1283 Words  | 3 Pages

    Furthermore, there are major health issues surrounding teenage pregnancy. For one, teen mothers are two to six times more likely to have low birth-weight babies, compared to mothers above twenty years of age. This is because teen mothers are often still growing themselves, and physically cannot let the baby grow and develop. Such low birth-weights lead to higher risks of new-born health problems, undevelo...

    Read More

  • Sex Education in Schools

    1232 Words  | 3 Pages

    encompasses sexual development, reproductive health, interpersonal relationships, affection, intimacy, body image, and gender roles.” Sex education discusses important aspects of reproduction, sexuality, and just growing up in general in a physical and emotional sense. One would have to wonder though; does sex education actually serve its purpose? Does it enlighten teens enough about sex and the consequences, to the point where you can actually tell the difference between those who are sexually educated and those who are not? According to a study done bye Coyle (1999) sex education no matter where, at home or in school, and no matter the program does indeed help decrease the amount of teens having unsafe sex. Based on information from that same study about 3 million teenagers a year get an STD, and roughly 10% of adolescent females ages 15-19 get pregnant every year unintentionally. In an article from The Alan Guttmacher Institute (1999) there has been a 20% drop in female pregnancies between n 1990 and 1997 and the drop has continued, they have stated that the reason for this i...

    Read More

  • The Miseducation of the Teenage Mother and Intergenerational Pregnancies

    2314 Words  | 5 Pages

    Hayes L. 13b: Teenage pregnancy--prevention and intervention. Practice Nurse [serial online]. November 28, 2003;26(9):63. Available from: Academic Search Complete, Ipswich, MA. Accessed May 18, 2014.

    Read More

  • Teen Pregnancy

    1797 Words  | 4 Pages

    Planned Parenthood Federation of America. "Pregnancy and Childbearing Among U.S. Teens." Online. Internet. 29 Mar. 1999. Available

    Read More

  • Teen Pregnancy Prevention

    2297 Words  | 5 Pages

    The rise of the teen pregnancy rate has caused us to question the effectiveness of the prevention programs that are offered to adolescents. There have been several programs focused on preventing teen pregnancy from abstinence-only to more comprehensive sexual education programs. Abstinent-only advocates believe that abstaining from having intercourse is the only way to prevent unwanted teen pregnancy. While practicing abstinence is the only 100% secure method of reducing this rate, it is not a logical view. Adolescents will continue to have sexual behavior, and it is important in teaching them more precise education when it comes to sex education. With-holding important information and facts about sexual behavior can change an adolescents’ life forever. Whether it be from teen pregnancy or from a life threatening STD.

    Read More

  • Sex Education in the U.S. and Japan

    1191 Words  | 3 Pages

    Stanger-Hall, K. & Hall, D. (2011). Abstinence-Only Education and Teen Pregnancy Rates: Why We Need Comprehensive Sex Education in the U.S. PLoS ONE 6(10).

    Read More

  • Teen Pregancy in the United States

    852 Words  | 2 Pages

    Teen pregnancy is a heavy topic in the United States that is now becoming the norm to most people. It has become broadcasted everywhere from TV shows, movies, and the Internet. Approximately 7% of teenage girl between ages 15-18 in the United States will become pregnant. Teen pregnancy has been down 42% since 1990 yet United States teen pregnancy rates are higher than any other first world country. Teenage pregnancy effects teenager’s physical health, social life, education, and jobs.

    Read More

  • Teenagers Need Safe Sex Education

    1128 Words  | 3 Pages

    Three million teenagers will contract a sexually transmitted disease and one in three women will become pregnant before they are twenty years old. Teens are contracting sexually transmitted diseases and getting pregnant at an alarming rate causing the government, schools, and parents to scratch their heads. America is the country with the highest teen pregnancy rate in the world. Many are wondering what can be done to stop this. A debate has been going on about whether abstinence only education is doing any good for high school students in America. Abstinence only education teaches teenagers to abstain from all sexual acts until they are married. It does not teach about pregnancy or the different types of contraceptives that are available to prevent pregnancy. On the other hand, there is safe sex education. Safe sex education teaches teenagers facts about intercourse they need to know, acknowledges the potential consequences or risks of sexual behavior, and helps them make better decisions to protect themselves and their bodies.

    Read More

  • Action Plan to Avoid Adolescent Pregnancy

    1799 Words  | 4 Pages

    Since the 1970s, many countries in the world the problem of adolescent sexuality and first sexual experience at young age appeared. To make matters worse, the trend of adolescent pregnancy became increasingly serious. From the fact sheet of World Health Organization, there are about 16 million adolescent girls giving birth every year – most in low- and middle-income countries. Among them, an estimated three million girls aged 15-19 undergo unsafe abortions every year. In low- and middle-income countries, over 30% of girls marry before they are 18 years of age; around 14% before the age of 15 and complications from pregnancy and childbirth are a leading cause of death among girls aged 15-19 years.

    Read More

  • Problems that Teenage Mothers Face

    1605 Words  | 4 Pages

     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.

    Read More

  • Teenage Pregnancy Essay

    852 Words  | 2 Pages

    Teen pregnancy is the term used in reference to those young ladies who get pregnant before attainment of legal adulthood that is between 13-18 years age group. It is a circumstance under which a teenager becomes pregnant unintentionally affecting her life-span development. Teen pregnancy is a prevalent factor among many teenage women especially in their 16th to 19th birthday. Pregnant teenagers are today faced with many obstetrics problems similar to those of the women in their age gap of 20s and 30s. Additional medical concerns are experienced by pregnant teenagers in the developing countries especially women aged 14 or younger.

    Read More

  • Teen Pregnancy: A Problem for Society

    1188 Words  | 3 Pages

    ...crease the teen pregnancy rates. The study was carried out in a town with a population of 10,000 within a health center in a town 25 miles from a major Mid. The location of the health center was located 25 miles from a major Midwestern city. According to Crowley, 2001, the health center serves clients ages 12 through 20. Inclusion criteria were girls ages 13 through 18, and never being pregnant (p. 723). 202 girls agreed and were eligible to participate, with 148 as the final sample. There were 54 girls excluded because they were already pregnant. All participants spoke English or Spanish In conclusion teen pregnancy has been identified in literature as a problem for teenagers, their families, and society. The Nursing Model for Teen Pregnancy will guide the study. The model theorizes that developmental maturity is related to those at risk for teen pregnancy.

    Read More

More about What Is Teen Pregnancy?

Open Document