Facts on Teenage Pregnancy

Also known as adolescent pregnancy, it accompanies health complications of varied kinds.  In fact, increasing number of teenage pregnancy cases has made it a global health concern. Read some facts on teenage pregnancy.

Worldwide Scenario

• In Asian countries, such as India, Pakistan and Afghanistan, girls are married off in their teen years and most of these girls conceive even before they reach 16 years of age. Most of the teen mothers live in poverty and weigh below 40 kgs.
• In the first world nations, the U.S. has the highest teen pregnancy rate due to low use of contraceptives among teenagers. It is twice as high as in England or Canada and ten times higher than Switzerland. About three in every ten teen girls in the U.S conceive at least once before completing 20 years of age.
• Nevada, which is the 35th most populous state in the U.S, has the highest teenage pregnancy rate in the world; it is 113 out of every 1000 teens.
• One in every teenage mother under the age of 18 delivers her second child within two years of her first delivery.

Health Risks of Teenage Pregnancy

• Level of prenatal and postnatal care in teenage pregnancy is considerably low, thus the chances of delivering an unhealthy baby are more.
• Teen mothers are more likely to experience premature delivery than mothers, who give birth in their 20s. This is because a teenager’s body is not as developed as that of an adult. Premature babies are at an increased risk of poor physical and brain development, learning disabilities and even death in some cases.
• Adolescent mothers are more likely to deliver low-birth-weight babies. Generally, babies with low-birth-weight weigh between 3.3 and 5.5 pounds and require medical attention for survival.
• Soon after childbirth, postpartum depression is quite likely to mar teen mothers.
• Young teens, who indulge in unprotected and casual sex, are also prone to develop STDs, such as chlamydia, HIV/AIDS and syphilis. The newborns of infected teens are likely to contract these life-threatening diseases.

Social Impact

Sex in teen years or before marriage is a taboo, especially in the third world countries.

• Teen mothers often face discrimination at the hands of family and society. They are compelled to suffer social isolation, poor living conditions, maltreatment, stress, and depression.
• Low education level among teen mothers is another adverse effect of adolescent pregnancy.   Only one-third of teen mothers complete their high school whereas only 1.5 per cent gets their college degree by the age of 30.