Teenage Pregnancy

Teenage Pregnancy, also known adolescent pregnancy. It is defined by the WHO as

pregnancy in a girl under the age of 20. Pregnancy can occur after the start of
ovulation, which can occur before the first menstrual period (menarche) but is more
common once periods start. In well-nourished girls, the first menstruation comes
around the age of 12 or 13. Adolescent pregnancies are a global issue that affects
countries of all income levels. Adolescent pregnancies are more common in
marginalized populations around the world, owing to poverty, a lack of education, and a
lack of economic possibilities. Adolescent pregnancies and births are caused by a
variety of circumstances. In many societies, girls are pressured to marry and have
children young.11,12,13 In least developed countries, at least 39 percent of girls marry
before the age of 18 and 12 percent before the age of 15.14 In many places, girls choose
to become pregnant because their educational and employment opportunities are
limited. Motherhood is often revered in such communities, and marriage or partnership
with childbearing may be the best of the few options available.

Adolescents who desire to avoid pregnancy may be unable to do so due to a lack of

understanding and misconceptions about where to get contraception and how to use it.
Adolescents encounter challenges to contraception availability, including restricted
laws and policies governing contraceptive provision based on age or marital status,
health provider bias and/or unwillingness to recognize adolescents' sexual health
requirements, and adolescents' personal incapacity to acquire contraception due to
lack of information, transportation, or financial restrictions. Adolescents may also lack
the agency or authority to ensure that a contraceptive method is used correctly and
consistently. In underdeveloped countries, at least 10 million unplanned pregnancies
occur each year among young girls aged 15 to 19. Sexual assault is another common
cause of unwanted pregnancy, with more than a third of females in some countries
claiming that their first sexual contact was forced.
Adolescent moms and their newborns suffer serious health repercussions as a result
of early pregnancies. Pregnancy and childbirth problems are the greatest cause of
mortality among girls aged 15 to 19, with low- and middle-income countries
responsible for 99 percent of global maternal fatalities among women aged 15 to 49.
Eclampsia, puerperal endometritis, and systemic infections are more common in
adolescent moms aged 10–19 years than in women aged 20–24 years. In addition,
approximately 3.9 million unsafe abortions among girls aged 15–19 occur each year,
contributing to maternal death, morbidity, and long-term health issues.

Early childbearing can put both newborns and young mothers at danger. Low birth
weight, preterm delivery, and serious neonatal disorders are more likely in babies born
to moms under the age of 20. Rapid recurrent pregnancy is a problem for young moms
in particular circumstances, as it poses additional health hazards to both the mother
and the child.

Stigma, rejection, or violence by partners, parents, and classmates may be social

consequences for unmarried pregnant adolescents. Adolescent pregnancy and
childbearing frequently lead girls to drop out of school, and while efforts are underway
in some places to allow them to return to school after childbirth, this may jeopardize
girls' future education and employment opportunities. Due to competing priorities in
the early Millennium Development Goals era, prevention of adolescent pregnancy and
related mortality and morbidity, as well as prevention of HIV and HIV-related mortality
and morbidity in adolescents and young people, were not given enough attention.20
During this time, WHO worked with partners to advocate for attention to adolescents,
as well as to build the evidence and epidemiologic base for action such as "WHO's
Guidelines for preventing early pregnancies."

According to South African studies, 11–20 percent of adolescent pregnancies are the
consequence of rape, and over 60% of teenage moms had unwanted sexual
experiences prior to their pregnancy. The Guttmacher Institute discovered that 60% of
females who had sex before the age of 15 were compelled by males who were on
average six years their senior. One out of every five teenage fathers admitted to
coercing their daughters into having intercourse with them. In developed countries,
multiple studies have found a clear correlation between early childhood sexual abuse
and eventual adolescent pregnancy. Women who gave birth in their teens were
assaulted up to 70% of the time; women who did not give birth in their teens were only
molested 25% of the time. Because a youngster lacks the maturity and ability to make
an educated decision to engage in fully consensual sex with an adult, sexual
intercourse between a minor and an adult is not deemed consensual in some nations.
Sex with a minor is consequently termed statutory rape in those countries. In most
European countries, on the other hand, once an adolescent has reached the age of
consent, he or she can legally have sexual relations with adults because it is assumed
that reaching the age of consent allows a juvenile to consent to sex with any partner
who has also reached that age (though some exceptions may apply). As a result,
statutory rape is defined as sexual activity with a person under the age of consent. In
the end, each jurisdiction determines what constitutes statutory rape. Research in 55
US counties (out of 2,927 total) found that sex education can lower teen pregnancy. The
study employed federally funded sex education programs as a proxy for sex education,
but offered no information on funding levels, number of students served, or time spent
on sex education. Nonetheless, the drop in teenage births (not pregnancy) was
significant, at 3%, indicating that more financing, education, or reach might raise
teenage pregnancy even more.
References

Adolescent Pregnancy (PDF). World Health Organization. 2004. p. 5. ISBN 978-9241591454.

Retrieved 28 July 2017.

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Teenage_pregnancy

Ganchimeg T, et al. Pregnancy and childbirth outcomes among adolescent mothers: a World
Health Organization multicountry study. Bjog. 2014;121(S Suppl 1):40-8.

https://www.who.int/news-room/fact-sheets/detail/adolescent-pregnancy

Raj A, Boehmer U. Girl child marriage and its association with national rates of HIV, maternal

health, and infant mortality across 97 countries. Violence Against Women 2013;19(4).

https://www.who.int/news-room/fact-sheets/detail/adolescent-pregnancy

WHO. Core competencies in adolescent health and development for primary care providers:
including a tool to assess the adolescent health and development component in pre-service
education of health-care providers. Geneva: WHO; 2015.

https://www.who.int/news-room/fact-sheets/detail/adolescent-pregnancy

Speizer, I. S.; Pettifor, A; Cummings, S; MacPhail, C; Kleinschmidt, I; Rees, H. V. (2009). "Sexual violence and

reproductive health outcomes among South African female youths: A contextual analysis". American Journal of

Public Health. 99 Suppl 2: S425–31.