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What is Teenage Pregnancy?

Posted on May 26, 2009 by ischoolsrnestrada

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WHAT IS TEENAGE PREGNANCY?

Teenage pregnancy is the state of being pregnant at the age before a girl reaches the age of maturity (usually between the ages 13-17).

Teenage pregnancy seems to be rampant nowadays. The advancement in technology and communication has led teenagers these days to be exposed to more information, fueling curiosity. Many enter into relationships at an early age without considering their future. Poor or rich, more young people these days enter into relationships without thinking about the negative outcomes.

Innocent about how to rear a child and find a job, many become pregnant.. Parents are not lacking in reminding their children, but sometimes the temptation is strong. Teenagers sometimes insist on what they want to do. In the provinces, they elope. Teenage pregnancy would sometimes bring shame to a family.

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PREGNANCY: MYTH and FACTS – click here

EFFECTS OF TEENAGE PREGNANCY:

Pregnant teenagers sometimes become the butt of jokes and “tsismis” in the community. They are humiliated and most of the time have a hard time looking for a job to sustain their pregnancy.

FINANCIAL

Pregnant teenagers almost always have a hard time with their finances. They could not buy the things they want or they need. They have to exert a lot of effort to have something.

JOBS

Finding a job is a tough task to anyone, but it is tougher for pregnant teenagers. Nobody wants to give a job to pregnant teenagers who, most of the time, find it hard to continue their studies. It is also difficult for a teenage mother to find a job.

HEALTH

For lack of a source of living, a lot of pregnant teenagers become malnourished or undernourished. The problem of malnutrition, however, can be addressed through various means.

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STORIES ABOUT TEENAGE PREGNANCY

SOURCE: http://pregnancy.lovetoknow.com/wiki/Stories_on_Teenage_Pregnancy

shakisha

i am pregnant at 16 going on 17. i was with this boy and after i became pregnant he made up stories and left me. i couldn’t believe that he ran away fro his own blood and i cant believe he ran away from me after saying he loved me. i’m ready to face all the obsticals in my life… cause this baby inside is my pride and joy…it’s apart of me, actually apart of him to… he comes at the place i work and looks me in the eye ( i wonder what he thinks and what he says to his mother and his girlfriend) i wonder if he even cares or just living life like nothing ever happened. i just wonder if he will ever come around and be there not for me but his own baby???

steph

i was 14 & had my first “serious” boyfriend. after being together 4 months i fell pregnant. the “boyfriend” ditched me. i went through my pregnancy with the only support coming from my family. in march 2008 i gave birth to the most gorgeous baby boy ever. he is now 15 months old & has never saw or heard anything from his “father”. to be honest i wouldn’t change a thing. having my son was the best thing that has happened to me.

Marcaties

it all started when i was 15 and i was 1 of the popular girls so i went to a lot of parties. 1 day i went to this really cool party and my friend introduced me to this guy named Ryan and he was really nice to me . after the party he took me to his house and well u know we did it. the next 2 months went by and i missed my period so me and my best bud and i went to a store and got like 100 pregnancy tests and they all had a pink plus sign i was so scared and happy at the same time. at school i say Ryan and we started to talk , i told him and he looked at my belly then he gave me a big hug .1 week later he told his mom and dad and they were so happy for us. 1 week later i moved in with him . he went to all my appointments . it was all good then 8 months later i gave berth to a baby girl named Alex now i am 17 and i am still with Ryan and Alex and my life is perfect

Ruby

I was 13 when I got pregnant and 14 when I gave birth. I was 2 months pregnant when I found out, with my ex’s baby, he was 16 at the time. I got pregnant the very first time we had sex. He was great with me during my pregnancy, we went out on and off the whole way through and we only broke up a few months after out son was born, he was also at the birth, and he still is a great father to out gorgeous little boy. It has been extremely hard being a mother so young but luckily I have an amazing family behind me, my mum and dad weren’t to happy when I first told them but they had to come to terms with what had happened had happened and they couldn’t change it. I have just turned 16 and Josh will be 2 in August and we are currently looking for out own house!

Good luck to all you single mums/mums to be out there, just because your young and on your own doesn’t mean you are any less of a mother!

ADDITIONAL INFORMATION ABOUT EFFECTS OF TEENAGE PREGNANCY

SOURCE: http://www.articlealley.com/article_479589_17.html

Effects of teen pregnancy on the children involved. These children are for more likely to grow up in poverty, to have more health problems, to suffer from higher rates of abuse and neglect, to fail in school, to become teen mothers, to commit delinquent acts and adult crimes, and to incur failed adult marriages and other relationships.

The burdens of early childbearing disadvantaged teens are undeniable. Trying to untangle the factors which contribute to teenage pregnancy from its effect, however, leads to a “which came first, the chicken or the egg?” dilemma, Educational failure, poverty, unemployment and low self-esteem are understood to be negative outcomes of early childbearing. These circumstances also contribute to the likelihood to teen pregnancy.

In general, teen mothers have much lower levels of educational attainment than other women, which severely limit their career options and sharply increase their likelihood of economic dependency. Only 70% of teen mothers complete high school or earn a GED, and far fewer
Risk Factors. Although it is not inevitable, some life circumstances place girls at higher risk of becoming teen mothers. These include poverty, poor school performance, growing up in a single parent household, having a mother who was an adolescent mother, or having a sister who has become pregnant.

Teenage pregnancies have become a public health issue because of their observed negative effects on perinatal outcomes and long-term morbidity. The association of young maternal age and long-term morbidity is usually confounded, however, by the high prevalence of poverty, low level of education, and single marital status among teenage mothers.

Children of teenage mothers have significantly higher odds of placement in certain special education classes and significantly higher occurrence of milder education problems, but when maternal education, marital status, poverty level, and race are controlled, the detrimental effects disappear and even some protective effects are observed.

How to prevent teenage pregnancy?

Teenage pregnancy could be prevented through:

full awareness of the issue

follow the advice of parents (Obedience is key to become a responsible teenager)

getting rid of friends who are bad influence

be a doer of good deeds

source: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=wO2rBxu0RHw&feature=PlayList&p=223907D916A38A95&index=0]