Category: Teenage Pregnancy

Abstract

Teenage pregnancy is still a major issue in the US. As it may carry many risks for adolescents, it is necessary to support effective teenage pregnancy prevention methods available in our society. The purpose of this paper is to study the adolescent pregnancy rates in the US, identify the risk factors, list health and mental risks of teenage pregnancy, and find existing and other possible solutions to raising awareness of teenage pregnancy prevention methods. Although there is a downward trend in adolescent pregnancy rates, the US has the highest rates among developed countries.

Sexual abuse, problems with the healthcare system, and lack of comprehensive sex education are still major risk factors. In order to eliminate these factors, it is necessary to support awareness of the most effective contraception methods, fight poor governmental decisions, and find new modern ways to raise sexual health awareness, such as online podcasts, applications, or websites.

Introduction

Adolescence is considered to be the most emotionally vulnerable age of a person’s life. Whereas it is a period of transition between childhood and adulthood, teenagers do not develop their cognitive and social skills fully yet. However, they come to an age of sexual maturity, which can result in romantic relationships or casual sexual encounters. Depending on different factors, both outcomes might lead to unintended teenage pregnancy.

According to Smith, Strohschein, and Crosnoe (2018), the United States still has the highest rate of adolescent pregnancies in developed countries. Despite the downward trend, it is not easy to maintain it (Martin, Hamilton, Osterman, Driscoll, and Mathews, 2018). Teenage pregnancy can be an overwhelming situation to deal with at such a young age; having adequate pregnancy preventative resources available in our communities is essential in order to aid in reducing pregnancy rates effectively.

Teen Pregnancy Rates and Dynamics

In order to analyze how unintended pregnancy rates can be reduced, it is necessary to start with the statistics. Researchers note that the average birth rate per 1,000 teenagers was 84.1 in 1991 (Cox et al., 2014). According to Martin et al. (2018), nowadays, the situation has drastically changed, with 18.8 births per 1,000 in 2017 among females aged 15-19. Thus, the average birthrate decreased 4.4 times over almost 30 years.

Such a decline tends to happen in 32 states, including Alabama, Ohio, New York, Mississippi, etc. In contrast, the teenage birthrate remained the same in the other 18 states, such as Connecticut, Hawaii, Kansas, Nebraska, etc. (Martin et al., 2018). However, the statistics clearly show that average teenage pregnancy rates are decreasing every year. Still, there is much work to be done to let the teenage pregnancy rates decrease in the future as the U.S. has larger problems than other developed countries.

Teenage Pregnancy Risk Factors

Meanwhile, the overall statistics show a decrease in adolescent pregnancies; it does not happen for all with equal success. According to Martin et al. (2018), there is a difference in birth rates by states with an average rate of 8.8 per 1,000 teenagers in Connecticut and 31.0 in Mississippi. However, this is not the only difference, and there are several most vulnerable groups in the US. According to Burrus (2018), these groups include Hispanic, African American, and American Indian teenagers. The risks of teenage pregnancy are also higher for other groups, such as foster care, runaway, or homeless adolescents (Burrus, 2018). However, any sexually mature female adolescent has unintended pregnancy risks despite their race, ethnicity, or social and cultural upbringing.

Sexual abuse is another teenage pregnancy risk factor. Non-voluntary sexual intercourse among teenagers still affects female adolescents resulting in an unwanted pregnancy. There is also a correlation between sexual abuse in childhood and early pregnancies. According to Harner (2016), more than half of pregnant teenagers have encountered early physical or sexual abuse. Thus, this is a major problem that has to be taken into account.

Unfortunately, many more important factors might be the cause of teenage pregnancies, and one of them is a lack of sex education. Researchers note that in 2012 one in four 15-17 female teens has ever had sex, and only two in ten have had formal sex education before their first sexual intercourse (Cox et al., 2014). Sex education provides knowledge of the main conventional methods of pregnancy prevention, such as correct condom use or birth control.

Teenage Pregnancy Health Risks

Among many other factors that might seriously affect a pregnant teenager’s life in case a young mother keeps the baby (including social or financial difficulties), the health risks should be considered in the first place. In case a pregnant adolescent is not supported by her family, or she is afraid of telling about her pregnancy, a future mother is at risk of not having prenatal care. Prenatal screens can show any complications with the pregnancy and can predict any defects of the fetus, which might be prevented if treated in time.

According to Corcoran (2016), among all, ethnic minorities tend to be the least insured groups and do not often receive proper prenatal treatment. Thus, during pregnancy, there is also a higher risk of miscarriage if the problems are not detected. Researchers also note that teenage mothers are also considered to be at risk of having a premature birth or low-birth-weight baby (Smith et al., 2018). Such complications can be the cause of a child’s death or disabilities as well as the labor might end in the death of a mother.

Mental health problems are also one of the major issues for a pregnant teenager to cope with. If a teenager is not emotionally supported, there might be a higher risk of depression during pregnancy or postpartum depression. According to Corcoran (2016), “Compared to nonpregnant teens, pregnant teens may have an even greater risk for depression” (p. 2). A child of such a mother might be at risk of intellectual or language delays because it does not receive proper care, especially if there is no father.

If a pregnant teenager does not want to keep the child, she faces abortion. However, it is considered to be one of the contraception methods; it can also be dangerous. If it is not performed correctly or is illegal, there is also a risk of having health problems in the future, such as infertility.

Teenage Pregnancy Socioeconomic Consequences

As far as socioeconomic consequences of teen pregnancy are concerned, adolescent pregnancy is usually associated with lower incomes and a decline in living standards. However, these considerations are not exactly correct. According to the recent research of Gorry (2019), the results of adolescent pregnancy may differ, depending on the group of teenagers. For example, the overall effect is not uniform for black, white, Latino, and Hispanic groups of teenagers. The researchers note that “the overall effects of teen childbearing are smaller and insignificant for the black and Hispanic and Latino populations” (Gorry, 2019, p. 2162). Moreover, young mothers from minority groups are encouraged to obtain a better education.

For black teenagers, the labor and household income are increased due to teenage pregnancy. It is possible to note that Hispanic and Latino teenagers who had a child in their teens are in better financial situations in the longer run, compared to those who do not have a child as a teenager (Gorry, 2019, p. 2162). The same results of teen childbearing can be seen among adolescents from lower-income counties (not divided by race).

However, the results of teen pregnancy differ for white teenagers. According to Gorry (2019), the effect is most detrimental in terms of education as white teenagers are not likely to receive high school diplomas, or their schooling years might be reduced. Thus, white teenagers who have a child are in worse financial situations in the long run compared to those who do not. It is also important to note that the same results may be applied to adolescents from higher-income counties.

Teenage Pregnancy Prevention: Programs and Methods

As mentioned earlier, the teenage pregnancy rates in the US are the highest compared to other developed countries. According to Smith et al. (2018), although there is a stable downward trend, US teenagers are more likely to become pregnant as their use of contraception methods is lower in comparison with their peers from other countries. The researchers also note that US teenagers use less effective pregnancy prevention methods (Smith et al., 2018). As there are many health and socioeconomic risks associated with teen pregnancy mentioned before, the fact of teenager childbearing is considered a problem that has to have an effective solution.

Better education about effective contraception is an important element of a strategy to continue lowering teen pregnancy rates. According to the researchers, about nine in 10 sexually active younger teens used some form of contraception the last time they had sex (Cox et al., 2014). However, it does not mean all the methods applied are effective. The researchers note that only 1% used the most effective methods, such as intrauterine devices or implants (Cox et al., 2014). Such a small number only means that either teenager are not aware of these forms of contraception or they are not available for them.

Nowadays, there are several ways how teenagers might receive necessary information: in the family, school sex education lessons, and local sex education programs, or independently using the information on the Internet. However, the researchers note that almost a quarter of female adolescents aged 15–17 years have not spoken with their parents about how to say no to sex or about methods of birth control (Cox et al., 2014).

It means that this way is not enough as either part of the teenagers do not want to talk to their parents about sex or their parents cannot address this issue correctly. Moreover, as it was said here earlier, there is a higher risk of teenage pregnancy among such groups as homeless teenagers or foster care adolescents. There should be special programs for such adolescents, and they have to receive information about contraception methods at schools.

In order to raise awareness about contraception methods, it is necessary to use a comprehensive educational approach. Nowadays, there are two main forms of how sex education is taught: comprehensive and abstinence-only. The abstinence-only approach implies no sexual activity before marriage. On the contrary, the comprehensive approach means that teenagers are taught contraception methods, human sexuality, and sexually transmitted infections. Thus, it is considered to be more effective in addressing contraception methods (Santelli et al., 2017). It is necessary to provide obligatory comprehensive sex education classes at schools.

However, comprehensive sex education is not taught in all states. According to Santelli et al. (2017), the federal government began supporting abstinence promotion programs in 1981 via the Adolescent Family Life Act in order to promote chastity. Consensual sexual intercourse outside marriage is considered psychologically and physically harmful for teenagers by abstinence-only supporters.

However, according to recent studies, there are no harmful psychological and psychical effects on adolescents from consensual sex (Santelli et al., 2017). The efficacy of the abstinent-only sex education program has been proven extremely low. According to the researchers, “Abstinence is often not effective in preventing pregnancy or STIs as many young people who intend to practice abstinence fail to do so” (Santelli et al., 2017, p. 276).

If these “failed” teenagers are not taught effective contraception methods, the risk of pregnancy or STI is very high. Moreover, the abstinence-only approach raises human rights issues as access to sexual and reproductive health information is considered to be a basic human right (Santelli et al., 2017). The abstinence-only approach does not provide full sexual health information and therefore raises a major ethical problem. In order to continue lowering teenage pregnancy rates, it is necessary to push for comprehensive sex education in all states.

As said earlier, the US has experienced a drastic decline in teenage pregnancies for the past two decades. According to the researchers, this downward trend has been linked to the use of contraception methods (Santelli et al., 2017). The development of a comprehensive sex education system and Teen Pregnancy Prevention Program has contributed to this trend.

The Teen Pregnancy Prevention program was established in 2010 by Congress, and its goal was to provide medically accurate, evidence-based, and age-appropriate programs for the prevention of teen pregnancy. According to Charo (2017), “The Safer Sex program showed similarly significant reductions in early sexual initiation, and for those already sexually active, significant reductions in unprotected sex and sexually transmitted infections” (p. 1557).

The researchers also note that The Horizon program aimed at African American teens has managed to reduce the rates of unprotected sex, as well as a significant number of other Teen Pregnancy Prevention programs have proved successful (Charo, 2017). Overall, there were more than 80 programs funded by the Teen Pregnancy Prevention Program that helped reduce adolescent pregnancy rates.

Although the TPPP was considered successful, according to the researchers, as mentioned earlier and many others, it faced significant difficulties. At first, grants were ended for about 80 grantees, and then the entire TPPP was to discontinue by June 2018. The funding was stopped by the Department of Health and Human Services under the Trump Administration. Fortunately, this decision met much-deserved criticism, and many organizations decided to fight against it. According to Durkee (2018), “The lawsuit was brought against the HHS by consumer rights group The Public Citizen on behalf of organizations Policy and Research LLC, Project Vida Health Center, Sexual Health Initiatives for Teens and the South Carolina Campaign to Prevent Teen Pregnancy” (para. 3).

Four of the 81 grantees whose grants were to end were named in the lawsuit. Fortunately, The Public Citizen won the lawsuit, and the grantees will be able to continue their research, whereas other lawsuits concerning other groups are pending (Durkee, 2018). It is essential that the human rights organizations continue to fight against any unreasoned decisions of the Trump administration in the future.

School interventions with a simultaneous approach to different risk factors are also considered to be an effective solution to the teenage pregnancy problem. Researchers note that school interventions that target sexual health and alcohol abuse at the same time were found to have positive effects on alcohol use and sexual risk behavior (Denford, Abraham, Campbell, Busse, 2017). The most promising sex education programs are targeted at the school, family, and community risk and protective factors (Denford et al., 2017).

Also, it is necessary to adjust such programs for different genders. According to the researchers, behavior changes and attitudes towards sexual behavior as a result of school sexual health interventions were inconsistent and often different for young males and females (Denford et al., 2017). Thus, it means that more research should be done addressing the gender issue and how to use school interventions with much efficacy according to the perception of educational programs by different genders.

A potentially beneficial method to support comprehensive sex education at schools might be educating parents who support the idea of abstinence-only sex education programs. In general, almost all American parents support the idea of some kind of sex education at schools. According to researchers, 97% of parents feel that sex education at schools is important (Kantor, Levitz, Holstrom, 2019). However, it is also important to educate those parents who are not likely to support a comprehensive sex education approach.

In fact, only more politically liberal parents at a younger age, with higher education levels and lower household income, tend to support comprehensive sex education programs (Kantor, Levitz, Holstrom, 2019). Activists should support any programs for comprehensive sex education for adults and why it is crucial for adolescents so that parents will not promote abstinence-only sex education.

Another potentially successful method to help raise teenage pregnancy awareness is promoted online podcasts, webpages, or mobile applications. In the modern world, teenagers spend a lot of time online, and for some of them, it is the most important source of information. For example, there is a mobile application, “Girl Talk,” aimed at teaching sexual health to adolescent females. According to Brayboy et al. (2017), the app showed excellent results in providing necessary sexual health information in a private and accurate manner.

The participants also showed much enthusiasm at recommending this application to their friends. It is also possible to note that the application has the potential to narrow the gap between teenagers, healthcare providers, and parents (Brayboy et al., 2017). Of course, it is crucial to have such applications not only for adolescent females but males too.

Helping teenagers obtain information and receive help from local healthcare providers can also be useful in order to lower teenage pregnancy rates. The US healthcare system is more market-oriented, and the government does not approach social welfare much. The researchers note that The United States also has a weaker safety net than Canada, for example (Smith et al., 2018). Combined with high-income inequality, it leads to the problem of healthcare access for lower-income families. It is possible to note that, although the link between poverty and teenage pregnancy in the US is less strong than in Canada, for example, it still exists (Smith et al., 2018).

Not all teenagers can obtain information about effective contraception methods from healthcare providers. Researchers note that laws allowing teenagers to receive health services and protecting their confidentiality are different in each state (Cox et al., 2014). Access to local healthcare providers should be available for all adolescents. Improving healthcare provider confidentiality might help with the problem of teen pregnancy, as well as developing social welfare in general.

Conclusion

As teenage pregnancy might have a severe impact on an adolescent’s life, it is essential to be aware of the risks, raising awareness of the effective adolescent pregnancy prevention methods. Although there is a drastic decline in teenage pregnancy rates nowadays, the US still has the highest rates among developed countries. As an adolescent pregnancy might lead to mental and physical health problems, reduce schooling years, and harm teenager’s financial situations in the longer run, it is necessary to fight the pregnancy risk factors. It is important to raise awareness about sexual health with the help of comprehensive sex education programs, which proved to be the most successful ones.

It is also important to fight for the cancellation of abstinence-only programs in the U.S. and educate those parents who do not support comprehensive sex education. More research should be done on how to develop programs addressing simultaneous risk factors for teenage pregnancy. In addition, it is necessary to fight against poor governmental decisions and demand more focus on social welfare. As well as the use of modern world solutions such as web podcasts or smartphone applications in order to continue the downward teenage pregnancy trend.

References

Brayboy, L. M., Sepolen, A., Mezoian, T., Schultz, L., Landgren-Mills, B. S., Spencer, N.,… Clark, M. A. (2017). Girl Talk: A smartphone application to teach sexual health education to adolescent girls. Journal of Pediatric and Adolescent Gynecology, 30(1), 23-28.

Burrus, B. B. (2018). Decline in adolescent pregnancy in the United States: A success not shared by all. American Journal of Public Health, 108, 5-6.

Charo, R. A. (2017). The Trump administration and the abandonment of teen pregnancy prevention programs. JAMA Internal Medicine, 177(11), 1557-1558.

Corcoran, J. (2016). Teenage pregnancy and mental health. Societies, 6(3), 21.

Cox, S., Pazol, K., Warner, L., Romero, L., Spitz, A., Gavin, L., & Barfield, W. (2014). Vital signs: Births to teens aged 15–17 years—United States, 1991–2012. MMWR. Morbidity and Mortality Weekly Report, 63(14), 312.

Denford, S., Abraham, C., Campbell, R., & Busse, H. (2017). A comprehensive review of reviews of school-based interventions to improve sexual-health. Health Psychology Review, 11(1), 33-52.

Durkee, A. (2018). Measures defunding teen pregnancy prevention and planned parenthood struck down in federal court. Mic. Web.

Gorry, D. (2019). Heterogeneous consequences of teenage childbearing. Demography, 56, 2157-2168.

Harner, H. M. (2016). Childhood sexual abuse, teenage pregnancy, and partnering with adult men: Exploring the relationship. Journal of Psychosocial Nursing and Mental Health Services, 43(8), 20-28.

Kantor, L., Levitz, N., & Holstrom, A. (2019). Support for sex education and teenage pregnancy prevention programmes in the USA: results from a national survey of likely voters. Sex Education, 1-13.

Martin, J. A., Hamilton, B. E., Osterman, M. J., Driscoll, A. K., & Mathews, T. J. (2018). Births: Final Data for 2017. National vital statistics reports: from the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, National Center for Health Statistics, National Vital Statistics System, 67(8), 1-50.

Santelli, J. S., Kantor, L. M., Grilo, S. A., Speizer, I. S., Lindberg, L. D., Heitel, J.,… Heck, C. J. (2017). Abstinence-only-until-marriage: An updated review of US policies and programs and their impact. Journal of Adolescent Health, 61, 273-280.

Smith, C., Strohschein, L., & Crosnoe, R. (2018). Family histories and teen pregnancy in the United States and Canada. Journal of Marriage and Family, 80(5), 1244-1258.

Teenage pregnancy remains a challenge to both developing and developed countries. According to the World Health Organization, around 12 million girls below the legal age of 18 give birth annually, while 10 million teenage girls give birth annually in developed countries (WHO, 2020). Teenage pregnancy exposes young girls and unborn babies to severe safety problems, including anaemia, low birth weight, a high risk of infant mortality, cephalophelvic disproportion, and high blood pressure. Additionally, adolescent mothers may face eating disorders, frequent bleeding, hyperemesis gravid arum, and breast fissures. Due to low socioeconomic status in developing countries, complicated births and pregnancies are the leading cause of death. Besides, out of the 5.9 million abortions conducted every year, 3.9 million are unsafe and can lead to death or birth complications that may affect the adolescent mother or the child (WHO, 2020). This shows that teenage pregnancy has adverse safety events that can significantly affect the adolescent mother, child, family, or society.

Pregnancy testing is an essential part of ensuring safe delivery. However, a study conducted in the US showed low pregnancy testing rates among teenagers. This has contributed to many teens in the emergency department during childbirth. However, teenagers shy away from seeking healthcare services despite these symptoms, which expose them to more danger and complications in giving birth hence reducing the quality of care. 10% of pregnant teenagers denied having sexual activity, making it difficult for healthcare providers to provide the needed care—16% of the 130 million healthcare emergency visits concerning adolescent pregnancy (Thirukumar et al., 2020). This shows that most teenage pregnancies are handled in the emergency department.

The US has the highest number of teenage pregnancies among developed countries. During pregnancy, the common complications are low birth weight at 18.2%, preterm at 7%, and hypertensive disorder at 5% (Thirukumar et al., 2020). Other studies have shown that preterm labor is the main complication during teenage pregnancy. Another significant incidence was the caesarean section which was prevalent in adolescent births at a rate of 16% (Thirukumar et al., 2020). These complications require hospitalization of the adolescent mothers to get attention and specialized care. The treatment and care needed for these conditions and procedures are quite expensive, making teenage pregnancy a costly process. A study by Beam et al. (2020) has shown that children born at 24 weeks gestation were found to have the highest cost of care in the US, with an average expenditure of $600,000, while those born with low birth weight had an average expenditure of $114,0000 and those with preterm status had an average of $76,000. The rate of preterm births in the US for teenagers is 9.5%, and although the rate has been decreasing, this shows that there is a significant population that suffers from the high healthcare costs related to teenage pregnancies (Beam et al., 2020). This shows that adolescent pregnancy complications can have adverse financial outcomes for the family and society based on care costs.

US State Board Nursing Practice Standards

One of the main practices that the Center for Diseases (CDC) has done is developing innovative ways to prevent teenage pregnancies. One of the practices is providing contraceptive and reproductive health services for adolescents. Therefore, the clinical officers and other healthcare professionals provide culturally diverse and friendly reproductive healthcare services to the youths and ensure that they are easily accessible (CDC, 2019). Healthcare professionals have ensured that they link pregnancy prevention programs and healthcare facilities that provide reproductive health to teens. This ensures that teens can access pregnancy prevention information from the healthcare centers. For instance, reproductive health should be offered to youths at the first visit to avoid requiring them to back again. Clinics have also adopted inconvenient hours for testing and providing preventing reproduction education to the youths, such as evenings to allow those from school to attend.

The federal government developed the Teen Pregnancy Prevention Program, which has funded over 200 grunts in different states. The program uses evidence-based studies to roll out programs based on reducing teenage pregnancy. State agencies and other no-profit organizations have provided grants to Teenage Prevention Programs to serve in the high-risk regions. For instance, the State of Illinois was given a grant of $2 million to provide teenage prevention programs in areas outside Chicago in 2019 (Office of Population Affairs, 2022). There are also laws enacted to protect the adolescents that get pregnant, such as the law that requires teenage mothers to complete school. The law requires paternity and child support to be paid. There is a $20 million bonus for the five states that successfully reduce teenage pregnancies and abortions.

How These Policies Can Provide Guidance in Addressing Care Quality, Patient Safety, and Costs

Since teenage pregnancy is the source of all these problems, preventing causes of teenage pregnancy through more policing and provision of education can help overcome this healthcare disparity. Although there are not many policies regarding the quality of care and cost of teenage pregnancies, the policies on preventing teenage pregnancies can be used to provide guidance (Cheah, 2019). The cost of education and provision of contraceptives is much lower than the cost of giving adolescent childbirth. Therefore, the most effective method of ensuring the quality of care, patient safety, and costs is conducting campaigns to prevent teenage pregnancies.

Effects of Local, State, and Federal Policies on Teenage Pregnancy

Most of the local, federal, and state government interventions are based on reducing the number of teenage pregnancies and are not focused mainly on the adolescent mothers or the care they receive. Instead of focusing on improving the quality of care, they receive in healthcare centers, state and federal laws offer grants and bonuses to reduce teenage pregnancies. Some of the policies regarding the adolescent mother’s well-being are her right to complete school and their right to paid paternity and child support (Center For Diseases Control and Prevention, 2019). There are no policies covering their health concerns during delivery, such as the complications they are likely to experience and how the government can subsidize the cost of adolescent childbirth. Maybe this is ignored to discourage teens from adolescent pregnancies.

Strategies to Improve Quality of Care Enhance, Patent Safety, and Reduce Costs

The first action should be to enforce the law on child support across the US. According to the current regulations, when a female teenager gets a baby, they should be allowed to continue with their studies until they complete school. For the male teens, if they get children out of wedlock, they should provide child support. However, without the strict implementation, the female teenagers find themselves left alone in providing care to their children. A study conducted in Macedonia by Rexhepi et al. (2019) showed that the strict implementation of child support laws reduces the number of teenage pregnancies. Therefore, if the law on child support is strictly implemented, the male adolescents will not risk impregnating their female counterparts out of wedlock to avoid child support, hence reducing the number of teenage pregnancies.

The other policy should be regarding the insurance and costs of childbirth. The government should seek ways of subsidizing teenage childbirth without encouraging the youths to get teenage pregnancies (Sawhill, 2022). This can be done by providing loans such as student loans for childbirth to cover the cost of childbirth, which will then be repaid after the teenagers reach the legal age. This would ensure safe deliveries of teenage pregnancies, reduce the risks of abortions, and increase the quality of care while discouraging teens from adolescent pregnancy.

The US government should develop policies that educate teenagers on safer pregnancy-keeping processes to enhance patient safety. For instance, pregnant teenagers should take Folic acid supplements to reduce the child’s chances of brain and spine complications (CDC, 2018). They should also regularly visit the hospitals for clinical check-ups to ensure that the baby is safely growing. These measures will reduce the possibility of childbirth complications, increase safety, and reduce the overall cost.

Available Sources of Benchmark

Different studies have proven that their interventions are affecting teenage pregnancies. For instance, a study by Fingar & Hambrick (2018) showed that teenage education and the provision of contraceptives could reduce adolescent pregnancies. Proper insurance policies help to ensure better quality care for adolescent childbirths. Developed countries have fewer childbirth complications than developing counties due to the socioeconomic differences between the countries. Therefore, providing insurance to teenagers who get pregnant can help to enhance care. Finally, following CDC pregnancy processes such as taking Folic acid during pregnancy help to ensure childbirth safety and reduces the possibility of complications. That is why the CDC advocates for all pregnant mothers to take at least one 400 grams tablet of Folic Acid during pregnancy to reduce the chances of childbirth complications.

References

Beam, A. L., Fried, I., Palmer, N., Agniel, D., Brat, G., Fox, K., Kohane, I., Sinaiko, A., Zupancic, J. A. F., & Armstrong, J. (2020). Estimates of healthcare spending for preterm and low-birthweight infants in a commercially insured population: 2008–2016.Journal of Perinatology, 40(7), 1091–1099. Web.

CDC. (2018). Folic Acid. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. Web.

Center For Diseases Control and Prevention. (2019). Health Care Providers and Teen Pregnancy Prevention. Web.

Cheah, I. G. S. (2019). Economic assessment of neonatal intensive care. Translational Pediatrics, 8(3), 246–256. Web.

Fingar, K., & Hambrick, M. (2018). Teen Hospital Stays for Childbirth, 2004-2013. Web.

Office of Population Affairs. (2022). Teen Pregnancy Prevention (TPP) Program | HHS Office of Population Affairs. Opa.hhs.gov. Web.

Rexhepi, M., Besimi, F., Rufati, N., Alili, A., Bajrami, S., & Ismaili, H. (2019). Hospital-Based Study of Maternal, Perinatal and Neonatal Outcomes in Adolescent Pregnancy Compared to Adult Women Pregnancy. Open Access Macedonian Journal of Medical Sciences, 7(5), 760–766. Web.

Sawhill, I. V. (2022). What Can Be Done to Reduce Teen Pregnancy and Out-of-Wedlock Births? Brookings; Brookings. Web.

Thirukumar, M., Thadchanamoorthy, V., & Dayasiri, K. (2020). Adolescent Pregnancy and Outcomes: A Hospital-Based Comparative Study at a Tertiary Care Unit in Eastern Province, Sri Lanka. Cureus. Web.

WHO. (2020). Adolescent pregnancy. Who.int; World Health Organization: WHO. Web.

Teenage pregnancy comes with several hazards; some youths are more vulnerable than others. Socioeconomic position, teens’ surroundings, their family, and the number of resources accessible epitomize some of the teenage pregnancy causation. Teen pregnancies are more common in communities with social segregation, regions with poor education and poverty, and communities with few resources for encouraging adolescent involvement in rural districts than in urban centers and metropolitan counties (Miriti & Mutua, 2019). Besides, teenage pregnancy is more likely among adolescents in child welfare institutions like foster care (Miriti & Mutua, 2019). Generally, the social-economic factors of teenagers contribute a bigger proportion in causing their pregnancy.

Numerous organizations have been established to address the social factors of teen pregnancy and decrease inequities. Some groups have been established in California to assist with teen pregnancies. The California Department of Public Health’s Adolescent Family Life Program (AFLP) is one such initiative. By addressing the potential health, social, financial, and academic difficulties they may encounter, this program offers case management services to pregnant and parenting youths and their kids. The Maternal, Child, and Adolescent Health Program is a different initiative from the State of California Department of Public Health (Pot, 2019). Teens, men, women, and their households are supported by this program at high schools and in community initiatives.

Based on the California Department of Public Health, adolescent birth rates have fallen in California during the previous ten years. The National Campaign to Prevent Teen and Unplanned Pregnancy spokesman, Bill Albert, opined that there are three key reasons why teen birth rates have decreased. The MTV programs such as ‘Pregnant Teen’ and the ‘Mom at 16′ are among the first to depict pregnant teenagers’ difficulties and daily life. The second category consists of low-maintenance birth control methods that have expanded sevenfold, like IUDs and implant forms. Peer pressure, which includes engaging in unsafe sex or becoming pregnant, is the third factor (Miriti & Mutua, 2019). Another is sex education provided by initiatives like the Teen Pregnancy Prevention Program.

Inconclusively, teenage pregnancy has been prevalent among youths due to varying factors. Some aspects that expose unwanted teenage pregnancies include poverty, illiteracy, and lack of essential resources. While in other states, teenage pregnancies may be soaring, in California, the trend has shown a recession for the past ten years. This success in reducing the number of pregnancies is attributable to the policies and measures the state has taken to improve people’s living conditions. Additionally, the state conducts reproductive health to enhance safe sex practices.

References

Miriti, J. M., & Mutua, M. N. (2019). Teenage pregnancies and girls education capabilities in California: School And Community Perspective. International Journal of Gender Studies, 4(1), 59-84.

Pot, H. (2019). INGO behavior change projects: culturalism and teenage pregnancies in Malawi. Medical anthropology, 38(4), 327-341.

Introduction

In recent years, both in the USA and in European countries, the number of pregnant women among minors has been increasing due to a decrease in the age of sexual debut, an increase in sexual activity of adolescents, and their low contraceptive culture. According to the International Family Planning Federation, every year in the world more than 15 million adolescents end up with childbirth (Horii 294).

Although the mass media and educational institutions constantly conduct programs to educate adolescents, the relevance of this topic does not decrease from year to year. In order to systematize the social aspects of teenage pregnancy, this paper analyzes modern data from American and foreign studies, which allows to identify the significance of the social consequences of teenage pregnancy.

Causes of Teenage Pregnancy

In adolescence, physiological changes occur associated with the process of puberty, which play a central role in the formation of a teenager’s personality and are very closely related to the formation of a sense of self-importance and personal identity. The experiences of sexual attraction at this age turn out to be extremely stressful, and sexual activity is distinctly experimental in nature, there is a process of comprehending one’s own bodily functions, playing multiple variants of interaction with peers of one’s own and the opposite sex. Studies of recent decades have recorded the increasing sexual freedom of teenage girls (Garney et al. 32).

However, increasing permissiveness in sexual terms is accompanied by an increase in the prevalence of sexually transmitted diseases, the number of pregnancies, abortions and illegitimate children. This is due to the fact that, despite the increased sexual activity, most young people have not yet learned how to regularly and responsibly use effective methods of pregnancy prevention.

Concomitant Factors of Physiological Development

Factors such as the acceleration of the growth and development of adolescents compared to previous generations and earlier physical and puberty in modern adolescents contribute to the problem under consideration. In addition, the change in the norms governing the relationship between teenage boys and teenage girls has an impact (Panting et al. 436). Changes in the system of medical and pedagogical measures to educate adolescents about the correct attitude to gender issues also contribute to the problem. Another factor is the presence in a number of modern films, cartoons, television programs, etc. scenes that activate the sphere of attraction in adolescents. One of the consequences of such factors is pregnancy, the outcomes of which are always problematic for teenage girls, both socially and medically: abortions, juvenile motherhood, early marriages, abandonment of a child for a while in children’s homes, and abandonment of a child.

Typical Scenarios

There are several typical scenarios according to which teenage girls enter into their first sexual contact. The result of the first sexual contact in about 20% of cases is an unplanned pregnancy (Garney et al. 34). The first of them is violence: these are violent acts of a sexual nature, most often committed against teenage girls who have victimization traits, mainly girls from socially disadvantaged families who have witnessed domestic violence, or have themselves become victims of abuse (Nepal et al. 678). The second scenario is inert behavior – one of the variants of the first sexual contact, in which the girl submits to her partner in order not to destroy their relationship.

In the case of voluntary consent, sexual contact is a continuation of some period of the relationship, usually short-term. Innovative behavior is also distinguished when a girl consciously initiates sexual relations, independently determining a partner for such a relationship. Another type of typical scenario is beer alcoholism, which is the most common scenario of the first sexual contact. Under the influence of beer, teenage girls become uninhibited, actively offering young people to enter into intimate relationships.

First of all, pregnancy is a physical load on the entire body; the mortality rate of teenage mothers is three times higher than that of first–time mothers in 20-25 years (Panting et al. 429). Children in adolescents, as a rule, are born with insufficient body weight and have a whole complex of pathologies. Teenage pregnancies are always problematic in that girls are often not ready from a physical and psychological point of view for the appearance of a baby, so they often resort to abortion.

Abortion Related-Difficulties

Artificial termination of pregnancy in adolescents is performed with the consent of a parent or guardian. The decision taken by the family and the young pregnant woman to terminate the pregnancy raises problems, when discussing which they usually indicate a high risk of a violation of the ability to motherhood in the future (Garney et al. 35). Much less often they remember that this operation is also a serious mental trauma for many.

Emotional experiences about an abortion can be as difficult for a teenage girl as the birth of a child itself. At the same time, half have depression and other changes in the state of psychological health (Panting et al. 426). Many teenagers are embarrassed to come to an appointment with a gynecologist, because they fear a violation of anonymity, due to their psychological characteristics and insufficient knowledge about the signs of pregnancy, they apply already at a late date, when the decision to terminate is made only if there are special medical instructions.

Very often, young mothers become objects of hatred and violence from relatives even during pregnancy. Fearing their negative, they hide the pregnancy, and, keeping it, also do not go to medical institutions (Horii 310). When the girl personally goes to the doctor in connection with the pregnancy, the doctor must register the pregnancy, inform one of the parents or guardians, inform the internal affairs bodies, and here the important principle of trust and confidentiality is violated.

Difficulties Associated with the Choice to Give Birth

If a young pregnant woman decides to give birth to a child, then she faces a number of problems, including raising a baby, financial difficulties, getting an education and a profession. A young mother is deprived of many opportunities to become an equivalent member of society, she practically falls into conditions of social isolation (Garney et al. 39). The school does not show much participation in the life of the student who gave birth; most often it is here that she faces condemnation and hostility.

An underage mother has nowhere to get labor and professional skills in order to have a job and start feeding her family, and there are too few employers who want to hire a young minor mother. Regardless of how progressive society is, pregnant teenagers and young mothers who are not married are regarded negatively (Horii 312). After birth, they often refuse children, or, without issuing a refusal at the clinic, subsequently neglect their parental duties. Currently, it is necessary to improve state activities in the field of regulation and social support for young mothers, providing financial support from the state at the initial stage. Of course, one should not ignore the prevention of teenage pregnancy in educational institutions and the system of measures for educating adolescents about the correct attitude to this problem.

Conclusion

Therefore, among the social aspects of teenage pregnancy, the factors contributing to the emergence of this problem are accelerating the growth and development of adolescents, changing the norms governing the relationship between adolescent boys and adolescent girls, changing the system of medical and pedagogical measures to educate adolescents about the correct attitude to gender issues. The following types of first sexual contact are distinguished: violence, inert behavior, voluntary consent, innovative behavior and beer alcoholism. Among them, the most common scenario is still the contact that occurred under the influence of alcohol.

The consequence of sexual contacts are pregnancies, the outcomes of which are always problematic for teenage girls, both socially and medically: abortions, early motherhood, early marriages, abandonment of a child in a child’s home, and abandonment of a child. The problem of teenage pregnancy is closely related to the issues of sexual, hygienic and moral education in the family, at school and the level of knowledge on reproductive health issues. In this regard, there is a need to organize the prevention of teenage pregnancy in an educational institution, involving parents, teachers, social educators, medical workers, psychologists and other specialists in prevention programs.

Works Cited

Garney, Whitney et al. “Ecological approaches to teen pregnancy prevention: An examination of evidence-based interventions.” Sage Journal, vol. 20, no. 4, 2018, pp. 30-40.

Horii, Hoko. “Pluralistic legal system, pluralistic human rights: Teenage pregnancy, child marriage and legal institutions in Bali.” The Journal of Legal Pluralism and Unofficial Law, vol. 51, no. 3, 2019, pp. 292-319.

Nepal, Samata et al. “Teenage pregnancies in Nepal: The problem status and socio-legal concerns.” Journal of Nepal Medical Association, vol. 56, no. 211, 2018, pp. 678-682.

Panting, Albeny et al. “Potential social risk factors for teenage pregnancy in Sarawak.” Social Sciences & Humanities, vol. 27, no. 1, 2019, pp. 425-441.

Introduction

Nursing roles are designed to meet the needs of patients with diverse backgrounds and needs. RNs are skilled professionals who can collaborate to advocate for the health challenges associated with high-risk groups and underserved populations. In most cases, vulnerable citizens tend to receive poor quality, unsustainable, and uncoordinated care. A good example of such individuals is teenagers who become pregnant. Due to the absence of proper support, these young individuals lack timely prenatal care and skills to support their developing fetuses. RNs can rely on their massive numbers, leadership skills, and competencies to advocate for the medical needs of this high-risk group. This paper focuses on the demands of this population and how to improve their health outcomes.

Background Information

Teenage pregnancy is a common challenge that disorients the delivery and availability of health services in the country. Over the years, the rate of young women giving birth in their teen years has been declining. Current statistics reveal that around 16.7 per 1,000 births are attributed to females below the age of 19 (Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, n.d.). Individuals belonging to minority groups record higher percentages of teenage pregnancy, such as Hispanic females at 5.2 and non-Hispanic Black women at 1.9 percent (Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, n.d.). These trends explain why additional support for these women is recommendable.

While teen pregnancy is a problematic concern, the country has been recording declining cases in the past few years. This trend could be linked to the presence of timely educational programs and community programs. More teenagers now appreciate the importance of responsible sexual activities and abstinence (Ribas, 2021). The remaining percentage of underserved individuals will call for proper initiatives to meet their needs. The ultimate aim is to advocate for the changing needs of this high-risk population.

Healthcare Need: Prenatal Care

Irrespective of age, young girls who become pregnant should have access to timely, personalized, and high-quality prenatal care. This medical support will ensure that their fetuses grow to become healthy babies. Unfortunately, most young individuals will be unable to get much-needed healthcare due to various challenges, such as increasing stigma from members of the public (Young & Kroth, 2017). Sometimes the young female might realize that she is expectant when it is too late. These aspects could explain why some individuals might take long to access proper care.

Importance of Prenatal Care

During teenage pregnancy, most girls are usually at a higher of developing various problems. Ribas (2021) indicates that such young girls might record higher blood pressure and anemia. In some cases, teenage pregnancy could result in the birth of underweight or premature babies, a risk factor for additional medical complications. It becomes critical that RNs remain involved to focus on the needs of this population and ensure that they get adequate iron, folic acid, and calcium supplements.

Nutrition

Nutrition for pregnant teenagers has remained an ignored issue or topic in different societies. This problem exists due to the challenges associated with young children who become expectant due to various reasons. Nonetheless, these individuals need to receive around 400 micrograms of folic acid on a daily basis (Ledowsky et al., 2022). Iron and other minerals are needed to ensure that fetuses develop normally, thereby reducing the chances of premature birth. Some of the important sources of such nutrients include beans, leafy vegetables, and egg yolk (Ribas, 2021). The involved caregivers should ensure that teenagers who are expectant have balanced diets.

Resources Available to Pregnant Teenagers

Different resources are available to teenagers who become pregnant in the country. Local departments and health clinics provide timely medical support, prenatal care, and guidance to young women below the age of 19 (Young & Kroth, 2017). Adoption organizations, such as American Adoptions, are involved in the provision of counseling and empowerment. The agency is ready to adopt children who might b unable to receive the necessary care from their underage mothers. Planned Parenthood and National Parent Helpline are key institutions that collaborate to meet the needs of all women during pregnancy and children’s growth stages. Unfortunately, the issues associated with these high-risk groups could decrease their uptake of such resources.

Economic Priorities

The American federal government needs to liaise with local and state agencies to monitor and prioritize the economic needs of pregnant teenagers. The key areas needed to be considered include the need for additional hospitals, community centers, and opportunities for economic empowerment (Young & Kroth, 2017). The relevant stakeholders can hire more RNs and introduce new mechanisms for improving care delivery to these underserved individuals.

Challenges

Many pregnant teenagers encounter a wide range of challenges in their respective communities. Specifically, they tend to lack adequate support and empowerment from other members of society. They find it hard to receive timely medical care and support. The absence of proper mechanisms to provide financial support worsens their life outcomes (Fernandes & Medeiros, 2020). Some of them would be unable to pursue their educational goals. These predicaments are linked to increasing cases of poverty and the inability to record meaningful social mobility.

Key Issues

The complicated nature of teenage pregnancy presents numerous challenges in the manner in which professionals provide support to members of this high-risk population. Some of the key concerns to take into consideration include the possibility of legal concerns, such as rape and abuse in the domestic setting. A number of underage girls might choose to hide their pregnancies, thereby making it hard for practitioners to offer proper medical care (Fernandes & Medeiros, 2020). Some parents might remain uninvolved in the process of prenatal care and the provision of relevant support after birth.

Ethical Concerns

Experts in maternal care, such as policymakers, insurers, and medical experts, identify various ethical issues associated with teenage pregnancy. In some cases, some of the individuals who become expectant might be unable to meet the needs of their newborn babies (Mangeli et al., 2017). In specific scenarios, rape, and child abuse could be the cause of early pregnancies in most girls. When these people become pregnant, chances remain high that they will be unable to complete their education, thereby being unable to record meaningful social mobility.

Societal Issues

Being a societal concern, healthcare providers need to understand that teenage pregnancy triggers numerous challenges. When examined from an informed perspective, this problem will be linked to various attributes of the wider society, such as poverty, economic disparities, cases of racism, and reduced empowerment for persons with diverse backgrounds (Mangeli et al., 2017). The absence of proper resources and initiatives worsens the situation for most of the underage girls who eventually become pregnant.

Legal System-Level Issue

Healthcare providers and RNs need to understand the legal issues arising from teenage pregnancy. They should be aware of the best procedures to undertake when underage individuals are involved (Mangeli et al., 2017). They can monitor the recorded mental problems, cases of depression, and trauma that could arise when the pregnancy is a result of rape or domestic abuse. Providers should be keen to ensure that the available care is acceptable and in accordance with the established code of conduct.

Insurers and Public Policymakers

Public policymakers and insurers need to be aware of the possible ethical and legal issues that could arise due to teenage pregnancy. They will begin by identifying the age of the teenager, the nature of the pregnancy, and existing lawsuits (Young & Kroth, 2017). This information will guide them to provide relevant support, such as insurance coverage and care. Policymakers can focus on emerging ethical, societal, and legal issues to make better laws capable of meeting the needs of this underserved population.

Involved Organizations

A number of organizations should be involved when it comes to the issue of teenage pregnancy. With possible cases of ethical, legal, and societal concerns, it becomes necessary to have a proper understanding of every situation. This understanding will guide the involved leaders and professionals to offer the relevant support and guidelines (Mangeli et al., 2017). The ultimate aim is to meet the changing needs of more teenagers who become pregnant in the country.

Nursing Intervention

Nurses have a role to play and intervene in the area of teenage pregnancy. They can apply their skills to identify children who are at risk and educate them about numerous issues related to sexuality (Mangeli et al., 2017). For example, they could liaise with social workers to launch educational campaigns focusing on sexually transmitted diseases (STDs), HIV/AIDS, reproductive health, and effective use of contraceptives. They will guide pregnant young women to identify available resources to transform the current situation.

Advocacy

Advocacy is a powerful strategy for introducing new ideas and mechanisms depending on the needs of underserved populations. Nurses need to rely on their numbers to support the formulation of additional laws that can support women who might be experiencing different forms of abuse. They will tackle the nature of disparities in the delivery of prenatal and postnatal services to most of these individuals. The advocacy initiative will help mitigate the challenges that make it impossible for some pregnant teenagers to achieve their maximum potential (Fernandes & Medeiros, 2020). Key areas to consider could include education attainment, improved health support, and community resources.

Improving Healthcare Delivery

The nursing practice could become the best procedure for improving the challenges associated with teenage pregnancy. RNs will need to collaborate and form multidisciplinary teams to provide personalized and timely medical care to these individuals (Fernandes & Medeiros, 2020). They can identify and guide more individuals to access various resources in their respective communities. They can offer additional support to individuals who might be at risk and create patient-centered care delivery approaches. This kind of support would be continued before and even after birth to ensure that positive results are recorded.

Nurses can go further to consider additional initiatives to transform the health experiences of pregnant teenagers. They will provide the relevant nutritional guidelines to ensure that the beneficiaries record positive outcomes. They will identify the necessary supplements and consider the importance of providing personalized support. The care process needs to be informed by the cultural attributes, economic challenges, and ethical concerns involved (Young & Kroth, 2017). They will link these individuals to most of the resources available in their respective societies. The combination of these efforts will reduce teenage pregnancy while ensuring that proper prenatal care is available to them.

Conclusion

Teenage pregnancy remains one of the common health issues affecting this country. Due to the challenges associated with this high-risk population, little progress has been observed in the areas of nutrition and prenatal care. Various ethical, legal, societal, and economic concerns are involved when dealing with teenage pregnancy. The consideration of all merging concerns, the provision of resources, and empowerment are evidence-based approaches to empowering pregnant teenagers. Nursing intervention remains a practical approach capable of transforming the health experiences and outcomes of most of these individuals.

References

Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. (n.d.). About teenage pregnancy. Web.

Fernandes, D., & Medeiros, M. (2020). Nursing scientific production on teenage pregnancy: An integrative review. Aquichan, 20(2), 1-14. Web.

Ledowsky, C., Mahimbo, A., Scarf, V., & Seel, A. (2022). Women taking a folic acid supplement in countries with mandatory food fortification programs may be exceeding the upper tolerable limit of folic acid: A systematic review.Nutrients, 14(13), 2715-2740. Web.

Mangeli, M., Rayyani, M., Cheraghi, M. A., & Tirgari, B. (2017). Exploring the challenges of adolescent mothers from their life experiences in the transition to motherhood: A qualitative study. Journal of Family and Reproductive Health, 11(3), 165-173. Web.

Ribas, C. R. (2021). Adolescent pregnancy, public policies, and targeted programs in Latin America and the Caribbean: A systematic review. Pan American Journal of Public Health, 45, 1-9. Web.

Young, K. M., & Kroth, P. J. (2017). Shultz and Young’s health care USA: Understanding its organization and delivery (9^th ed.). Jones & Bartlett.

Change of times has been matched with changes in social, economic and cultural systems. Ancient civilizations have been replaced with technological and educational empowerment.

Socially, irresponsible behavior has been the cause of teenage pregnancy, spread of sexually transmitted infections (STIs) and dropping out of school (Allerston 25). The long term effects have been increased dependency ratio because the affected are usually unemployed.

It is true that the education systems have failed to incorporate adequate sex education in their programs. Whether to increase sex education or not has been the debate recently. This paper discusses why sex education should be increased in a bid to cub teenage pregnancy.

The rate at which teenagers are becoming curious to explore their sexual life is alarming. The adolescent stage is associated with increased hormonal activity, desire to respond to such imbalances and eventually engage in sexual activities (Measor 71). It is, however, unfortunate in cases where teenagers lack wisdom in regards to the ‘sexual arena’.

The results are usually undesirable; increased number of school drop outs, increased HIV/AIDs infection rates and teenage pregnancies. The need to have sex education increased is therefore important.

Increased sex education is important in schools because teenagers receive guidance and counseling from their teachers. It has been revealed that teenagers are easily affected by their environment. A supportive environment helps in averting situations of unwarranted sexual behavior (Measor 74). The teenagers are able to share their problems comfortably and are advised accordingly. In view of this, sex education is necessary.

Increased sex education is important because it emphasizes on the need to abstain and use of contraceptives. Teenagers become aware of the reality and how best they can live to avert cases of teenage pregnancies. Teenagers who find it difficult to abstain are aware of contraceptive methods such as condom use. In addition, teenagers appreciate the negative health effects of teenage pregnancy. Pre-delivery care is also taught (Allerston 27).

Increased sex education psychologically prepares teenagers for what is to come in future. Teenagers who abstain find it rather easier to handle major issues before getting into marriage. On the other hand, victims of teenage pregnancy are usually faced with mental unpreparedness. Sex education helps in addressing this effect (Measor 75). The teenagers become aware of what might befall them if responsible sexual behavior is not adopted. They also become aware of pregnancy handling, childbirth processes and parenthood.

Increased sex education in schools is important. Statistically, parents have failed to guide their children in sexual matters (Measor 77). Parents ignore this crucial responsibility assuming that teenagers would learn by themselves. The result has been peer-influenced education (Allerston 28).

Teenagers copy some irresponsible behavior from their peers. The ultimate results are drug abuse, teenage pregnancy and/or spread of STIs. It is practical enough to assert that though parents should inculcate responsible sexual behavior, teachers should do it more. The fact that teachers spend most time with the students strategically gives them an edge over the parents (Measor 79). In this view, sex education should be increased in schools.

Sex education is not only important in curbing teenage pregnancy but also helps in preventing and controlling the spread of HIV/AIDS and other STIs such as syphilis and gonorrhea (Allerston 30). It is therefore important to increase sex education in schools to avert cases of teenage pregnancies.

The spread of STIs in pregnancy cases makes the situation worse. The teenagers become aware of the situation that may arise if responsible sexual behavior is not adopted. In this view, increased sexual behavior is necessary.

In conclusion, it is important to note that change of generations is associated with increased levels of curiosity. It is rather unfortunate that most teenagers explore the ‘sexual arena’ with a lot of ignorance. The result has been teenage pregnancy, spread of STIs and increased drop out from school. Increasing sex education in schools is necessary to avert all these effects.

Works Cited

Allerston, Sue. Sex education. Cheltenham: Nelson Thornes, 2001, Pp 24-30.

Measor, Lynda. Young people’s Views on sex education: education, attitudes, and behavior. Routledge, 2000, Pp 70-80.

Introduction

Early pregnancy means giving birth while under the age of 20 years. This pregnancy occurs at puberty when they experience the initial menarche roughly at 12-13. At this stage, the females are potentially fertile. According to a nonprofit agency focusing on reproductive and sexual research, public education and policy analysis, teenage pregnancy holds adverse consequences to the society, child and parents.

Overview

The children, who are born to teenage parents, lack adequate medical attention. The opportunities of mother and the child to build a future are further depleted by these risks. Need for change in lifestyle by the mother may be the only option to have a healthy baby. Problems such as birth weights are common due to smoking and alcoholic mothers. During teen years, female teenagers are at twenty-five percent probability of smoking at pregnancy compared to adults.

STIs (sexually transmitted diseases) are at its peak of contraction at this tender age. Some of the STIs include Chlamydia, which causes sterility, and pneumonia in newborns, syphilis, which causes blindness, Infant and maternal death, and HIV-the virus causing AIDS. The medical care given to mothers during pregnancy minimizes or eliminates the HIV virus being transmitted to the baby.

Background

The major cause of early life pregnancies is premature sex. The enlightened seniors should give further details about unprotected sexual intercourse, and missed periods. Where sex cannot be avoided, use of condoms would be a radical solution although not the best compared to abstinence.

Peer pressure is a prolific mother inciting many young and innocent teens to have unprotected sex. However, there are other causes of early pregnancy such as those resulting from unreported rape cases. It would be a wise choice to discuss biting situations with health officers. Children born, leave their parents traumatized due to the gap that they open up between them and their social lives. Some are ashamed, which is vital for others to learn from so as to avoid similar situations.

The HHS’ (The Department of Health and Human Services) commitment is preventing the out of wedlock births and encourage adolescent abstinence. The organizations’ driving force is the belief that community driven program tends to succeed. While promoting abstinence amongst teenagers, they stand a chance to make wise decisions for their bright futures.

Abstinence Education Program

This provides the federal grant to the states’ abstinence education entities on counseling and mentoring. The main aim is to promote abstinence away from early sexual activity before marriage. This helps in developing action plans to curb teenage pregnancies (Piehl 67).

Boy Child Education

Educating the boy child is not an exception in curbing teenage parenting. This way, the young men, are at a better position to decide on whether they would like to postpone fatherhood.

School-based Work Groups

This program brings the education on parenthood to the potential early parents.

Early parenthood denies the young parent the chance to decent education and job opportunities. Enlightenment of these unfair conditions would go a long way in discouraging early pregnancies. Teenagers would be less inspired to bear children in the early age. Where such pregnancies are already in position, the advice would be to take healthy meals, avoid drugs, and take up physical exercise to bear the right weight children. They should also seek early and regular parental care from clinics.

Conclusion

Education to the youthful teens would be a valuable tool to curb early pregnancies. The society and the government hold a stake in the discouragement of these pregnancies. From the early pregnancies, it is true to say that the accompanying problems such as disease contractions are equally indispensable, thus the need to curb early parenting.

Works Cited

Piehl, Norah. Teenage pregnancy. Famington Hills, MI: Greenhaven Press, 2009. Print.

Introduction

For a long time now teenage pregnancy has been a situation of concern with some people referring to it as both public health and a social problem.

The teenage pregnancy problem requires a change of culture so that a more holistic approach can be adapted to contain the teenager’s sexual health and recognize everyone’s contribution towards reducing cases of teenage pregnancy.

In the past, there has been a shift of the public and policy concern over the marital status of the mothers to be to their age.

This shift may have been caused by several reasons which include:

• the growing cohabitation among the middle classes (which has made childbearing a difficult behavior to condemn),
• the extension of adolescence,
• the subsequent dependence of young people on their families for economic support.

This has rendered youthful parenthood an increasingly problematic event (Arai, 2009).

Although teen pregnancy is a problem it can be reduced with good education, parental support and embracing of birth control methods and thus there is the need for more e convoluted transitions into education, employment, and family formation which has to be fuelled by the structural changes occurring in our economy (Arai, 2009).

The goal of this research paper is to inform the general public of how teenage pregnancies can be reduced through good education, parental support and embracing birth control methods.

Thesis

Although teen pregnancy is an ongoing problem, it can be reduced with good education, parental support, and birth control

Literature Review

Over the last couple of years, the United States of America has woken up to the highest teenage pregnancy rates among the developed economies and thus, there is a need for we as parents to ensure that cases of teenage pregnancies are reduced.

It is a fact that sex and relationships education needs to be more positive and often augmented by more open attitudes between parents, teachers, and young people.

To make sex education more acceptable for all the stakeholders involved, school policy on sex and relationships education should ensure the inclusion within the school curriculum of a well-informed approach to preventing occurrences of teenage pregnancies.

There have been arguments by teenagers that sex education comes rather when its already too late and the teenagers know it all, and thus many do not concentrate. Thus, there is a need to introduce sex education earlier before the teenagers have already practiced all there is about sex.

Another way of making sex education work is to change the approach in that rather than basing sex education on the mechanics of sex and contraception; the education should be based on relationships and social skills.

Most students prefer the visit of teenage mothers in the school to describe the reality of life with a baby to understand the reality and the seriousness of the matter.

Sex and relationships education should also include accurate information about where and when local contraception and sexual health services for young people are available.

Most of the times, students complain that their teachers are not confident when discussing sex matters in class and this creates tension in the class whenever the topic is discussed.

Thus, there is a need to ensure that teachers are confident and accurate about the information they provide to teenagers during the sessions of sex education.

With all the campaigns and forums, networking is another aspect through which teenagers can be taught on how to prevent early pregnancies, for example, through community development officers or youth workers who work alongside young people should teach them about the quality of good relationships and motivate them to achieve and feel more confident (Chambers& Wakley, 2001).

Parental support is another key channel through which instances of teenage pregnancy can be reduced. Parents should support their children by offering their personal experiences.

The importance of their children dressing nicely and explaining to them that sex does not necessarily start with the intercourse; rather it is an attitude in one’s mind.

They should also make it known to their kids that sex is an important part of a committed marital relationship and the beginning of families; it is a special unit which has to be treasured and not a prize to be won and when the teenagers will focus on the value of sex rather than on the negative repercussions pregnancy rates will decline (Thompson, 2008).

Birth control is another channel through which cases of teenage pregnancies can be reduced.

With more than half of pregnancies occurring in the United States of America being unintended, there are several safe and highly effective methods of birth control, which can prevent unintended pregnancies.

There exist several methods of birth control through which our teenagers can use to prevent the early pregnancies these methods are classified either as a reversible, barrier, and permanent methods and they include oral contraceptive, female sterilization, male and female condoms, insertion of Intra Uterine Devices and vasectomy.

These methods, if used correctly, can prevent and reduce cases of teenage pregnancies as it has been happening in the USA (Mosher, Martinez, Chandra, Abma & Wilson, 2004).

Conclusion

Cases of teenage pregnancies in the United States of America are higher than in any other developed country in the world.

To reduce the occurrence of teenage pregnancies, several measures need to be taken beginning with introduction and improvement of sex education during the early years of our teenagers as well as parental support and use of correct birth control methods to ensure cases of teenage pregnancy are reduced.

References List

Arai, L. (2009). Teenage Pregnancy: The Making and Unmaking Of a Problem. New York: The Policy Press.

Chambers, S. and Wakley, G. (2001). Tackling teenage pregnancy: sex, culture and need. New York: Radcliffe Publishing.

Mosher, W. D., Martinez, G. M., Chandra, A., Abma, C. J., and Wilson, J. S. (2004). Use of Contraception and Use of Family Planning Services in the United States: 1982–2002. Web.

Thompson, E. (2008). Reducing teen pregnancy: Neighborhood influences overlooked by PRWORA: Washington & Lee University. Web.

I am writing in riposte to Jane Merrick’s article, “Sex education is key if the teenage pregnancy rate is to continue to fall,” which appeared in The Independent on Wednesday, 26 February 2014. Currently, teenage pregnancy is a worrisome subject across the world.

As a teenager myself, I know my age mates are engaging in sex oblivious of what may occur them, as all they can think of at the moment is self-gratification. If the cause of teenage pregnancy is not addressed urgently, we are likely to end up with fatherless children, which in turn put the conventional family structures into the test. This trend is also threatening to teenagers.

Teenagers experience numerous hormonal changes in their bodies. During this time, there is a huge stream of hormones, which evokes different emotions coupled with causing great changes in teenagers’ bodily growth patterns. At this point in life, teenagers become unruly, and they disregard the set of rules and regulations in society. Due to these changes, teens resort to sex as a means of making them feel great, which leads to unwanted teenage pregnancies. During this stage, teens require proper care, love, guidance, and provision.

Secondly, peer pressure surrounding these minors has been a contributing factor in teenage pregnancies (Merrick, 2014). Peer pressure is the influence that directs one to do something or stops teens from doing what they are supposed to do. When peers meet, they exchange flawed information concerning the life and their bodies.

Teens fall for peer pressure, as they want to get acceptance and recognition amongst their peers. Peer pressure leads to experimental activities like engaging in unprotected sex, which leads to teenage pregnancy. Teenagers influence each other in the use of drugs, the decision to have boyfriends, and how to engage in sex.

Poverty can be cited as one of the main contributing factors to teenage pregnancies (Domenico & Jones, 2007). Mostly, this misfortune befalls girls from poverty-stricken areas as opposed to those from rich families. A poor girl from a remote village, who is unable to get the provision of her daily life needs like sanitary towels, makeup, and even pocket money, may resort to any means possible to acquire these needs. Men take advantage of these poor girls and lure them into engaging in unprotected sex in exchange for money and other niceties.

Given that these girls have a voice or choice under the stated circumstance, they take the offer for money and niceties as an activity to earn a living, and in turn, they become pregnant, and they are forced to raise fatherless kids. This aspect also poses a great risk to the lives of these girls, as some of them resort to abortion.

Abortion has been known to cause loss of life, as many young girls have died during the exercise in a bid to escape the burden of parenthood. Another risk that comes with poverty is the risk of contracting sexually transmitted diseases like HIV and AIDS. Through unprotected sex, teens become pregnant, and sometimes, they are so unlucky that they contract diseases.

Also, the lack of proper parenthood has also been a great challenge to the control of teenage pregnancy (Harden, Ginny, Fletcher & Oakley, 2009). Some teenagers find themselves on the streets, and they have to survive somehow.

This occurrence may be due to the death of their parents, which renders them orphans or they maybe they are products of teenage pregnancies after which they are abandoned by their youthful inexperienced parents. In a bid to survive, the teens resort to prostitution as a means of earning a livelihood, which in turn leads to teenage pregnancies.

Finally, unemployment has been very instrumental in the increase in teenage pregnancy. Most countries across the world are fighting the problem of unemployment. Lack of job opportunities has driven teens into finding what they can do to earn a living.

In most developing countries, the population is growing faster as compared to the economic growth and creation of job opportunities, which exerts pressure on the few already existing jobs. Given that these teenagers are idle, they end up abusing drugs and ultimately they are involved in unprotected sex, thus leading to early pregnancies.

Every person in society must ensure good moral and discipline during teenage. This goal can be achieved through proper parenthood, coupled with creating awareness about sex and its dangers. Creation of programs that will attract teenagers to spiritual values will create a sense of fear for God.

Young people have to be kept busy through participation in community-based programs that will keep them preoccupied and at the same time earn them some money, and thus be in a position to cater for their basic personal needs. Nepotism and favoritism should be shunned to ensure equal opportunities for both the poor and the rich, and this move will bridge the gap of poverty in society. Teenagers are precious people just as everybody else and they should receive the requisite support in a bid to waddle through the murky waters of teenage and transit to adulthood wholesomely.

References

Domenico, D., & Jones, K. (2007). Adolescent pregnancy in America: causes and responses. The Journal of Vocational Special Needs Education, 30(1), 4-12.

Harden, A., Ginny, B., Fletcher, A., & Oakley, A. (2009). Teenage pregnancy and social disadvantage: systematic review integrating controlled trials and qualitative studies. British Medical Journal, 339, 1182–1185.

Merrick, J. (2014). Sex education is key if the teenage pregnancy rate is to continue to Fall. Web.

Introduction

Sexual behaviors and attitudes have changed overtime, although not completely. These changes have been attributed to the cultural transformations that have occurred in societies. Some reasons for this include the increased emphasis on sex education especially in schools and in the mass media, the increasing concern on HIV/AIDS and STDs as well as the general formal education acquired by individuals in formal schools and churches, and other organizations.

These have helped change people’s perception on sexual behaviors. According to Gordon, Lottes and Weinberg (1997), education has played a key role in changing people’s sexual behavior, either positively or negatively. According to Baltzer and colleagues (2008), most teenagers seem to be responsible regarding the issue of sexuality, although some areas of concern still exist. Such areas include teenage pregnancy, AIDS and STDs infection, and their consequences on the health of the teenagers.

Newspaper overview

‘’CDC: One-third of sex ed omits birth control.’’ Written by Stobbe Mike on the 15^th of September, 2010.

According to Stobbe, most teenagers in the US have obtained formal sex education but not all have received formal education on matters of birth control methods. According to the government’s report released on 15^th of September, 2010, only two-thirds of those who have received formal education have the knowledge on birth control methods (Stobbe, 2010). Stobbe argues that most of the students do not absorb what they are taught in class about sex education.

Therefore, teenage pregnancies have increased, especially between 2005 and 2007, with a slight decrease in 2008. Most students argue that they do not obtain sex education in their earlier ages and they only get it at the age of 18. They also argue that much of the teaching content provided through formal education mainly deals with saying no to sexual advances and STDs but lesser attention is paid towards the use contraceptives and other birth control methods.

According to the data provided by the government, only two-thirds of teenagers acquire knowledge on birth control methods by the end of their high school education. The report released by the government also notes that most parents tend to discuss sex and birth control with their teenage daughters more than their teenage sons.

According to Stobbe (2010), other research studies carried out on sex education in US seem to suggest that sex education declined between 1995 and 2002 and has not improved since then. This was mainly attributed to the government’s policies on sex education that only stressed on abstinence.

The program only taught students about STDs but did not focus on how to apply birth control methods. However, over the last two years, much of the federal funding has focused on sponsoring teaching programs that discuss the use of birth control methods. A CDC report that was released at the beginning of this year show that teenagers attitude towards pregnancy and birth control methods have not changed.

Education and Teenage Pregnancy

Positive Impacts of Sex Education on teenage pregnancies

Teenage pregnancy may be defined as pregnancy in a girl or a young woman who has not yet celebrated her twentieth birthday regardless of whether the woman is married or not (Boyce et al, 2002). Education has played a major role in guiding teenagers to change their behavior and attitude towards sexuality.

They are able to understand themselves better and carry themselves in an appropriate manner. Most teenagers today play safe sex (Baltzer, et al.). According to Luong and Sen (n. d) and Sex Life Canada (2010), teenage pregnancies have reduced in Canada and British Colombia. This has been as a result of provision of a comprehensive sex education and health information to teenagers.

Sex Life Canada, (2010), states that teenage pregnancy in Canada and British Colombia reduced by 37% and 35% respectively from 1996 to 2005. Sex education has enabled teenagers in Canada to apply birth control methods of using contraceptives. Some public hospitals in Ontario, Canada, have reported low birth rates of about 9.5% for young women between the age of 15 and 19 (Chen, Fleming, Demissie, Rhoads, Wen and Walker, 2007).

The data above show that education can effectively help teenagers change their behavior and attitude towards sexuality and be able to avoid unplanned teenage pregnancies. According to Baltzer et al (2008) and Mackinnon (2002), majority of teenagers in Canada have acquired knowledge on sexuality and about 29% of boys are ready to abstain and wait till their get the right partners for marriage.

Failures of Sex Education in reducing teenage pregnancies

According to the article by Stobbe, education has not achieved much in terms of helping students change their attitudes and behavior on sex and use of birth controls. Although education has been perceived to help young women and girls avoid teenage pregnancies, it has not been able to fully achieve this goal.

According to Hana (2010), America has seen tremendous increases in teenage pregnancy for girls aged between 15 and 19, over the recent years. According to her, about 0.75 million teenage girls get pregnant every year and out of these pregnancies about 82% is unplanned. These teenage pregnancies have severe impacts on girls especially when they are not planned. These may include problems with their emotional, social, psychological and physical health.

The reasons for the failure of the formal sex education are varied. According to Stobbe (2010), formal education failed to have an impact on teenagers due to the lack of its comprehensive approach.

The policies on sex education laid by the government only focused on providing formal sex education on abstinence and awareness of STDs leaving out a very important part of birth control. This means that most students step out of high school with little or no information on application of birth control. Besides, According to Bruce (2001), the average age in which most young girls in America experience their first menstrual period is 12.

However, much education on sexuality is mostly concentrated on the upper secondary schools, thus neglecting most of the girls who are also vulnerable to teenage pregnancies. According to the United Press International, (2006), most teenagers do not use condoms while having sex. According to the article, only 28% of teenage girls use protection while having sex. Evidence has shown that young girls even with ages below twelve years have conceived and given birth under normal circumstances.

Researches have also shown that most parents do not find it appropriate to discuss matters of sexuality with their children. Only a smaller percentage has been able to this effectively. Most parents shy away from discussing matters of birth control with their children, especially the boys, assuming that boys are not psychological affected by young fatherhood (Dryburgh, 2002).

Effective sex education can not be achieved without reinforcement from the parents and those close to the teenagers. Most mothers prefer to take their children to doctors to discuss matters on sexuality rather than discuss it with them since most mothers lack the full information on sexuality to provide for their children (Baltzer et al 2008).

They also feel that the terminologies on sexuality are too strong to be discussed with their teenage children. However, according to the research carried out by the Paediatr Child Health to determine the extent of sex education among the youth in Canada, only 7% of the teenagers had acquired sex education services from doctors (Baltzer,et al, 2008).

Formal sex education does not cover all aspects that contribute to teenage sex and how to go about them. It has limited information on playing safe sex since much of the content provided only discusses about STDs and abstinence. They are also not taught how to deal with the influence from their peers who normally convince them into having teenage sex. Most teenage girls are pressured by their boyfriends into having sex. According to Treffers (2003), about 29% of teenagers are pressured by their peers into having sexual intercourse.

The education provided on sexuality also does not cover matters of post pregnancy psychological consequences on the young mothers and fathers. The content does not discuss on how to deal with post pregnancy trauma. Thus the impacts of pregnancies are really felt by those who become pregnant. Some knowledge about the risks and post pregnancy psychological consequences would better help the teenagers to adapt safe sex while having intercourse.

Conclusion

Education is very important in changing the adolescent’s attitude and behavior towards sexuality and teenage pregnancy in particular. It is therefore essential to identify factors that bar the youth from getting full information and knowledge about sexuality.

Therefore, providing a comprehensive formal sex education should be considered in order to reduce these cases of teenage pregnancies. Teachers, parents and health care professionals should provide a comprehensive and accurate sex education to teenagers. It is also important to ensure sexual health information is accessible to all teenagers.

Reference List

Baltzer, F, Elliot, A, Frappier, JY, Kaufman, M, Lane, M, McDuff, P and Pinzon, J. (2008). Sex and sexual health: A survey of Canadian youth and mothers. Pulsus Group Inc, Rockville Pike.

Boyce W, Doherty M, Fortin C and Mackinnon D. (2002). Canadian youth, sexual health and HIV/AIDS study. Web.

Bruce, A. (2001). Adolescent Pregnancy. In Alex Gitterman: Handbook of Social Work Practice with Vulnerable and Resilient Populations (2nd ed). Columbia University Press, New York.

Chen, X.K, Fleming N, Demissie K, Rhoads G.G, Wen S.W., & Walker M. (2007). Teenage pregnancy and adverse birth outcomes: a large population based retrospective cohort study. Int J Epidemiol.

Dryburgh, H. (2000).Teenage pregnancy. Health Reports. Web.

Gordon, L.E, Lottes I.L., & Weinberg, G. (1997). Social class background, sexual attitudes, and sexual behavior in a heterosexual undergraduate sample. HighBeam Business.

Hana, M. (2010). Psychological Effects of Teenage Pregnancy. Web.

Luong, M., & Sen, A. (n. d). Sex, Teen Pregnancies, STDs, and Beer Prices: Empirical Evidence from Canada.

Stobbe, M. (2010). CDC: One-third of sex ed omits birth control. The Associated Press.

Treffers, P. E. (2003). Teenage pregnancy, a worldwide problem. Ned Tijdschr Geneeskd.

United Press International (2006). Report says teens don’t often use condoms. United Press International.