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Causes of teenage pregnancy
Teenage Pregnancy
Underlying causes of teen pregnancy
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Teen Pregnancy
In the United States, approximately 410,000 teens between the ages of 15 - 19 gave birth in the year 2009 (“Vital Signs,” 2011). Although the teen birth rate in the United States during 1991-2009 has declined to its lowest level in the past 70 years, when compared to other developed countries lowest birth rates, the U.S. is still six to nine times higher in teen birth rates (p. 419). In 2006, over 750,000 women became pregnant; the pregnancy rate for women 15-19 years old was 71.5 pregnancies per 1,000 women (Kost, Henshaw, and Carlin, 2010). The live birth rate for 15-19 year old women in 2009 was 39.1 births per 1,000 females; this being the lowest rate ever recorded (“Vital Signs,” 2011).
Teen pregnancy, also known as adolescent pregnancy, is referred to as a women being pregnant and delivering a baby while under the age of 20. As stated in Aretakis (2011), “The causes of teen pregnancy are diverse and affected by changing moral attitudes, sexual codes, and economic circumstances” (p. 769). Additional precursors to adolescent pregnancy include family structure (the attitudes and behavior of the family, partners, and peers); first time menstruation and other biophysical changes; disinterest from school; and risk-taking attitudes and behaviors (Driessnack, 2009). Pregnancy in adolescents occurs in all parts of the country, among all ethnic and religious backgrounds, in public and private schools, and across all socioeconomic classes (Balakas, 2009).
The ideal treatment in teen pregnancy is to make sure that both the mother and fetus progress as expected. To achieve this, early prenatal supervision is strongly suggested throughout the pregnancy, as this results in less harm to both the mother and child (Balak...
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Planned Parenthood Arizona. (2012). Teens and abortion law. Retrieved from http://www.plannedparenthood.org/ppaz/teens-abortion-law-31364.htm
Singh, S., Darroch, J.E., & Frost, J. J. (2001). Socioeconomic disadvantage and adolescent women’s sexual and reproductive behavior: The case of five developed countries. Family Planning Perspectives, 33(6), 251- 258, 289.
Stockert, P.A. (2009). Nutrition. In P. Potter & A. Perry (Eds.), Fundamentals of nursing (7th ed. pp. 1085-1128). St. Louis, MO: Mosby.
U.S. Department of Health and Human Services. (2002). Preventing teenage pregnancy. Retrieved from http://www.policyalmanac.org/health/archive/hhs_teenage_pregnancy.shtml
Vital signs: Teen pregnancy--united states, 1991--2009. (2011). MMWR: Morbidity and Mortality Weekly Report, 60(13), 414-420. Retrieved from http://www.cdc.gov/mmwr
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.
"Facts on American Teens' Sexual and Reproductive Health." Facts on American Teens' Sexual and Reproductive Health. N.p., n.d. Web. 01 Jan. 2014.
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.
Teen mom and 16 and Pregnant are TV shows about pregnant teens that are struggling to raise their kid and going through different obstacles in order to graduate high school and become successful. Both of the shows relate to teen pregnancy because they’re both shows about pregnant teens. “Instead of really helping viewers understand the day to day responsibilities of attending to a new infant, MTV chooses to focus on the girls’ volatile relationships with the babies’ fathers or their body piercings and tattoo,” Parents Television Council Director, Melissa Henson wrote on CNN.
Alan Guttmacher Institute. (1999). Teenage pregnancy: Overall trends and state-by-state information. NY: The Alan Guttmacher Institute.
Although there are still troubles with teenage pregnancy, there are people out there who are putting forth effort to help the social problem. Countless organizations are beginning to show up and attempt in helping these teens. There is a group that started in Austin, Texas called The Tandem Teen Prenatal and Parenting Program. “Tandem has been effective in improving the health and well-being of teenage parents and their children and has more than halved the national subsequent pregnancy rate of 24% among its clients by more then half” (Rosell, Scarborough, Lewis, 2010). Tandem is trying to help in improving the lives of the teen parents who do not have much help from anyone else. “They provide one-on-one prenatal education at appropriate intervals, with the aid of topical packets that include print and video material” (Rosell, Scarborough, Lewis, 2010).
Planned Parenthood Federation of America. "Pregnancy and Childbearing Among U.S. Teens." Online. Internet. 29 Mar. 1999. Available
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 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.
While many teens that engage in pre-marital sex never become pregnant, some are not as fortunate. Teen pregnancy has become all too common in this day and age. Some teens think it will not happen to them and do not use necessary precautions to protect against it. There are several causes for teen pregnancy and the effects can be life changing.
The concept of comprehensive social intervention has been defined as the process of identifying social problems in an attempt to eradicate them. In looking at the broad range of social characteristics and the behavior associated with teen pregnancy, it is obvious that the emphases placed on the effort to recognize and alleviate teen pregnancy can be celebrated through the effectiveness of education, family planning, and abstinence. However, the attempt to analyze and deal with the cause-and-effect relationship with teen pregnancy is an attempt in understanding the social world itself. In 2006, statistics show that there was a significant increase in teen pregnancy after a decade long decrease. The potential for understanding this increase motivates us to look beyond simple explanations for cause-and-effect behavior and to look at what interactions may be occurring between variables that result in specific behaviors or social conditions. What is it that influences behavior? In looking at teen pregnancy in the realm of the family, it is evident that a large number of family structures have evolved, or perhaps devolved, into a variety of combinations which challenge responsible parents to consistently expose their children to the role models and the types of behaviors that are important for their children to emulate as they mature. People are molded by circumstances and experiences, all of which can positively or negatively influence our behavior.
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.
Teen pregnancies often carry additional health risks to the baby and the mother. Basically, they lack timely and suitable prenatal care hence posses a higher risk for pregnancy related complications such as the high blood pressure. The mother also risks the life of the baby due to the premature birth. The teen mother experiences a tremendous dilemma after realizing that some physical changes are substantiating her pregnancy. Mostly such teen’s lacks the courage to explain what they are going through to her parent. Generally, many perform their duties routinely as they l...
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.
Tsai and Wong (2003) acknowledged many risks factors, which is a contributor to teen pregnancy. The influence involves numerous sexual partners, drug abuse, unprotected sex, use of or lack of contraceptives, poor attendance, school performance, and lack of family support, etc. Teen pregnancy is a main issue in every health care system, and affects a young girl’s ...