Major Complications Surrounding Teenage Pregnancy

Teenage pregnancy is synonymous with low level of nutrition and physical and emotional unpreparedness to go through the taxing process of pregnancy along with unhealthy lifestyle choices naming smoking and drinking. Read ahead to take a note of the various complications of
 
Anaemia
An ideal haemoglobin concentration in an expectant woman of 20s should be 11.0 g/dl, according to WHO guidelines. A pregnant woman having haemoglobin lesser than the ideal range is termed to be anaemic regardless of age. Teenage mothers are more likely to suffer from anaemia than women, who conceive in their 20s or 30s. Anaemia in expecting teen mothers can be linked with unhealthy eating habits and negligence towards food prevalent in the adolescents. Unhealthy eating practices lead to iron and folic acid deficiencies, thus making the teenage mothers prone to anaemia. Worsened state of anaemia can possibly cause maternal death.

Premature Birth
Teenager mothers are less likely to complete the three pregnancy trimesters. Usually, they deliver even before the 37th week of pregnancy. As per WHO reports, even if teenage mothers are properly nourished and provided with proper prenatal care, there are chances that they’ll have premature delivery. Premature childbirth is a major cause of neonatal death, especially among  African American teenage mothers.

Low Birth Weight
Chances of LBW babies are higher in teen mothers. The babies weigh less than 5.5 pounds and premature birth subjects them to various birth and health complications, such as behavioural and psychiatric problems and developmental issues. Poor lifestyle practices namely drug abuse, improper nutrition and smoking tend to increase chances of LBW babies in teen mothers than in mothers aged 25 and above. Every year about 10 per cent of the total teen mothers deliver a LBW baby, says Western Michigan University. Poor or lack of prenatal care to the adolescent mothers is another key reason for low birth babies.

High Blood Pressure
Pregnancy demands increased blood flow for the well-being of the uterus. This heightened demand can be repressive for the underdeveloped cardiovascular system of teenage mother. A teenage girl’s body is underdeveloped to nourish a baby and bear tumultuous changes of pregnancy, thus during pregnancy, her cardiovascular system fails withstand with the additional circulatory load. This may cause high blood pressure or pregnancy induced hypertension (PIH) and later on, developing into preeclampsia. While experiencing preeclampsia, the expecting teen mother may complain about body inflammation.