Teenage Pregnancy in Perspective

Abstract

In an effort to provide the clinician with suggestions for preventive and remedial approaches to adolescent pregnancy, the nature, medical, social, economic, and psychological aspects of the problem are reviewed and discussed. While the rate of adolescent pregnancy is declining, there are more than 560,000 deliveries to teenagers annually. Medical risks are significantly diminished by early and comprehensive prenatal care. The major complications continue to be social and economic. Lower I.Q.s in offspring of adolescent mothers have been reported. Failure to complete high school significantly increases the risk of unemployment, trapping the premature parent and her offspring in a web of poverty. A lack of a sense of future and viable alternatives may legitimize the option of motherhood in the minds of many adolescent girls. Furthermore, an ignorance and a denial of sexuality combined with the developmental imperatives of experimentation and rebellion place the adolescent at high risk for pregnancy.

Denial of pregnancy as a reproductive dysfunction: A proposal for international classification systems

“…The high percentage of women who have already had sexual and partnership experiences contradicts the explanation of the phenomenon as psycho-mental immaturity in terms of adolescent development aloneeven when this may play a major role in specific cases. Finally, so-called teenage pregnancies are a frequent problem that adolescents can generally overcome without concealing or denying their pregnancy [10,14,[17][18][19].…”

Associations Between Maternal Age and Infant Health Outcomes Among Medicaid-Insured Infants in South Carolina: Mediating Effects of Socioeconomic Factors

“…[11][12][13] Others described no differences in emergency department (ED) visits, hospitalizations, or immunizations for infants of younger and older mothers. [14][15][16] Limited available research suggested that the average adolescent mother has lower income than the average older mother, less education, and less awareness of her infant's medical needs, suggesting less ability to promote infant health. 2,8,[17][18][19] The association between infant health and socioeconomic status limits the usefulness of most studies of this issue, which typically rely on health care claims data that do not permit individual-level controls for characteristics such as education or income.…”

Young women under 16 years with experience of sexual intercourse: who becomes pregnant?

“…20 21 For those sexually active teenagers who do not use contraception, there is a 90% probability of conceiving in 1 year, 14 although clearly the frequency of unprotected intercourse is relevant. 15 Lack of access, lack of confidence in discussing use with a partner and confusion about the law in relation to use of contraception among those under 16 years are thought to be important factors in understanding why teenagers may not use contraception, even when not actively planning a pregnancy. 14 Simply not thinking about contraception or believing that it (pregnancy) ''won't happen to me'' may also be important factors.…”