Teenage pregnancy

From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia Jump to: navigation, search Teenage pregnancy is pregnancy in human females under the age of 20 when the pregnancy ends. A pregnancy can take place before menarche (the first menstrual period), which signals the possibility of fertility, but usually occurs after menarche. In healthy, well-nourished girls, menarche normally takes place around the ages 12 or 13. The prevalence of teenage pregnancy depends on a number of personal and societal factors. Teenage pregnancy rates vary between countries because of differences in levels of sexual activity, marriage among teenagers, general sex education provided and access to affordable contraceptive options. Worldwide, teenage pregnancy rates range from 143 per 1000 in some sub-Saharan African countries to 2.9 per 1000 in South Korea.[1][2] In the United States 82% of pregnancies in those between 15 and 19 are unplanned.[3] Pregnant teenagers face many of the same obstetrics issues as women in their 20s and 30s. There are however, additional medical concerns for mothers younger than 15.[4] For mothers between 15 and 19, risks are associated more with socioeconomic factors than with the biological effects of age.[5] However, research has shown that the risk of low birth weight is connected to the biological age itself, as it was observed in teen births even after controlling for other risk factors (such as utilisation of antenatal care etc.).[6][7] In developed countries, teenage pregnancies are associated with many social issues, including lower educational levels, higher rates of poverty, and other poorer life outcomes in children of teenage mothers. Teenage pregnancy in developed countries is usually outside of marriage, and carries a social stigma in many communities and cultures. Many studies and campaigns have attempted to uncover the causes and limit the numbers of teenage pregnancies.[8] Among OECD developed countries, the United States, United Kingdom and New Zealand have the highest level of teenage pregnancy, while Japan and South Korea have the lowest in 2001.[9] The latest data from the United States shows that the states with the highest teenage birthrate are Mississippi, New Mexico and Arkansas while the states with the lowest teenage birthrate are New Hampshire, Massachusetts and Vermont.[10]

Contents
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1 Effects o 1.1 Mother o 1.2 Child o 1.3 Other family members o 1.4 Medical 2 Causes o 2.1 General

2.2 Sexuality 2.3 Role of drug and alcohol use 2.4 Lack of contraception 2.5 Age discrepancy in relationships 2.6 Sexual abuse 2.7 Dating violence 2.8 Socioeconomic factors 2.9 Childhood environment 2.10 Media influence 3 Prevention o 3.1 Netherlands o 3.2 United Kingdom o 3.3 United States o 3.4 Developing world 4 Prevalence 5 Teenage fatherhood 6 History 7 Society and culture o 7.1 Politics o 7.2 Media 8 See also 9 References 10 Further reading 11 External links

o o o o o o o o o

Effects[edit]
Several studies have examined the socioeconomic, medical, and psychological impact of pregnancy and parenthood in teens. Life outcomes for teenage mothers and their children vary; other factors, such as poverty or social support, may be more important than the age of the mother at the birth. Many solutions to counteract the more negative findings have been proposed. Teenage parents who can rely on family and community support, social services and child-care support are more likely to continue their education and get higher paying jobs as they progress with their education.[11]

Mother[edit]
Being a young mother in an industrialized country can affect one's education. Teen mothers are more likely to drop out of high school.[8] Recent studies, though, have found that many of these mothers had already dropped out of school prior to becoming pregnant, but those in school at the time of their pregnancy were as likely to graduate as their peers.[citation needed] One study in 2001 found that women who gave birth during their teens completed secondary-level schooling 10 12% as often and pursued post-secondary education 1429% as often as women who waited until age 30.[12] Young motherhood in an industrialized country can affect employment and social class. Less than one third of teenage mothers receive any form of child support, vastly increasing the likelihood of turning to the government for assistance.[13] The correlation between earlier

childbearing and failure to complete high school reduces career opportunities for many young women.[8] One study found that, in 1988, 60% of teenage mothers were impoverished at the time of giving birth.[14] Additional research found that nearly 50% of all adolescent mothers sought social assistance within the first five years of their child's life.[8] A study of 100 teenaged mothers in the United Kingdom found that only 11% received a salary, while the remaining 89% were unemployed.[15] Most British teenage mothers live in poverty, with nearly half in the bottom fifth of the income distribution.[16] Teenage women who are pregnant or mothers are seven times more likely to commit suicide than other teenagers.[17] Professor John Ermisch at the institute of social and economic research at Essex University and Dr Roger Ingham, director of the centre of sexual health at Southampton University found that comparing teenage mothers with other girls with similarly deprived social-economic profiles, bad school experiences and low educational aspirations, the difference in their respective life chances was negligible.[18] Teenage motherhood may actually make economic sense for young women with less money, some research suggests. For instance, long-term studies by Duke economist V. Joseph Hotz and colleagues, published in 2005, found that by age 35, former teen moms had earned more in income, paid more in taxes, were substantially less likely to live in poverty and collected less in public assistance than similarly poor women who waited until their 20s to have babies. Women who became mothers in their teens freed from child-raising duties by their late 20s and early 30s to pursue employment while poorer women who waited to become moms were still stuck at home watching their young children wound up paying more in taxes than they had collected in welfare.[19] Eight years earlier, the federally commissioned report "Kids Having Kids" also contained a similar finding, though it was buried: "Adolescent childbearers fare slightly better than later-childbearing counterparts in terms of their overall economic welfare."[citation needed] According to the National Campaign to Prevent Teen Pregnancy, nearly 1 in every 4 teen mothers will experience another pregnancy within two years of having their first.[20] Pregnancy and giving birth significantly increases the chance that these mothers will become high school dropout and as many as half have to go on welfare.[21] Many teen parents do not have the intellectual or emotional maturity that is needed to provide for another life. Often, these pregnancies are hidden for months resulting in a lack of adequate prenatal care and dangerous outcomes for the babies.[22] Factors that determine which mothers are more likely to have a closely spaced repeat birth include marriage and education: the likelihood decreases with the level of education of the young woman or her parents and increases if she gets married.[23]

Child[edit]
Early motherhood can affect the psychosocial development of the infant.The children of teen mothers are more likely to be born prematurely with a low birth weight, predisposing them to many other lifelong conditions.[20] The hardships do not stop at birth for these children. The children are at higher risk and are usually plagued by intellectual, language, and socio-emotional delays.[22] Developmental disabilities and behavioral issues are increased in children born to teen mothers.[24][25] One study suggested that adolescent mothers are less likely to stimulate their infant through affectionate behaviors such as touch, smiling, and verbal communication, or to be sensitive and accepting toward his or her needs.[24] Another found that those who had more social support were less likely to show anger toward their children or to rely upon punishment.[26]

Poor academic performance in the children of teenage mothers has also been noted, with many of them being more likely than average to fail to graduate from secondary school, be held back a grade level, or score lower on standardized tests.[8] Daughters born to adolescent parents are more likely to become teen mothers themselves.[8][27] A son born to a young woman in her teens is three times more likely to serve time in prison.[28]

Other family members[edit]

Teen pregnancy and motherhood can influence younger siblings. One study found that the younger sisters of teen mothers were less likely to emphasize the importance of education and employment and more likely to accept human sexual behavior, parenting, and marriage at younger ages; younger brothers, too, were found to be more tolerant of non-marital and early births, in addition to being more susceptible to high-risk behaviors.[29] If the younger sisters of teenage parents babysit the children, they have an increased risk of getting pregnant themselves.[30]

Medical[edit]
Maternal and prenatal health is of particular concern among teens who are pregnant or parenting. The worldwide incidence of premature birth and low birth weight is higher among adolescent mothers.[5][8][31] In a rural hospital in West Bengal, teenage mothers between 1519 years old were more likely to have anemia, preterm delivery, and low birth weight than mothers between 2024 years old.[32] Research indicates that pregnant teens are less likely to receive prenatal care, often seeking it in the third trimester, if at all.[5] The Guttmacher Institute reports that one-third of pregnant teens receive insufficient prenatal care and that their children are more likely to suffer from health issues in childhood or be hospitalized than those born to older women.[33] Young mothers who are given high-quality maternity care have significantly healthier babies than those that do not. Many of the health-issues associated with teenage mothers, many of whom do not have health insurance, appear to result from lack of access to high-quality medical care.[34] Many pregnant teens are at risk of nutritional deficiencies from poor eating habits common in adolescence, including attempts to lose weight through dieting,skipping meals, food faddism, snacking, and consumption of fast food.[35] Inadequate nutrition during pregnancy is an even more marked problem among teenagers indeveloping countries.[36][37] Complications of pregnancy result in the deaths of an estimated 70,000 teen girls in developing countries each year. Young mothers and their babies are also at greater risk of contracting HIV.[4] The World Health Organization estimates that the risk of death following pregnancy is twice as great for women between 15 and 19 years than for those between the ages of 20 and 24. The maternal mortality rate can be up to five times higher for girls aged between 10 and 14 than for women of about twenty years of age. Illegal abortion also holds many risks for teenage girls in areas such as sub-Saharan Africa.[38]

Risks for medical complications are greater for girls 14 years of age and younger, as an underdeveloped pelvis can lead to difficulties in childbirth. Obstructed labour is normally dealt with by Caesarean section in industrialized nations; however, in developing regions where medical services might be unavailable, it can lead to eclampsia, obstetric fistula, infant mortality, or maternal death.[4] For mothers in their late teens, age in itself is not a risk factor, and poor outcomes are associated more with socioeconomic factors rather than with biology.[5]

Causes[edit]
General[edit]
In some societies, early marriage and traditional gender roles are important factors in the rate of teenage pregnancy. For example, in some sub-Saharan African countries, early pregnancy is often seen as a blessing because it is proof of the young woman's fertility.[38] The average marriage age differs by country, and in countries where teenage marriages are common, one can expect to also experience higher levels of teenage pregnancies. In the Indian subcontinent, early marriage and pregnancy is more common in traditional rural communities compared to the rate in cities.[39] The lack of education on safe sex, whether it is from parents, schools, or otherwise, is a cause of teenage pregnancy. Many teenagers are not taught about methods of birth control and how to deal with peers who pressure them into having sex before they are ready. Many pregnant teenagers do not have any cognition of the central facts of sexuality. Some teenage girls have said to be pressured into having sex with their boyfriends at a young age, and yet no one taught teens how to deal with this pressure or to say "no".[40] In societies where adolescent marriage is less common, such as many developed countries, young age at first intercourse and lack of use of contraceptive methods (or their inconsistent and/or incorrect use; the use of a method with a high failure rate is also a problem) may be factors in teen pregnancy.[2][41] Most teenage pregnancies in the developed world appear to be unplanned.[41][42] In an attempt to reverse the increasing numbers of teenage pregnancies, governments in many Western countries have instituted sex education programs, the main objective of which is to reduce such pregnancies and STDs. Countries with low levels of teenagers giving birth accept sexual relationships among teenagers and provide comprehensive and balanced information about sexuality.[43]

Sexuality[edit]
See also: Adolescent sexuality In most countries, most men experience sexual intercourse for the first time before their 20th birthdays.[44] Men in Western developed countries have sex for the first time sooner than in undeveloped and culturally conservative countries such as Sub-Saharan Africa and much of Asia.[44] In a 2005 Kaiser Family Foundation study of US teenagers, 29% of teens reported feeling pressure to have sex, 33% of sexually active teens reported "being in a relationship where they felt things were moving too fast sexually", and 24% had "done something sexual they didnt

really want to do".[45] Several polls have indicated peer pressure as a factor in encouraging both girls and boys to have sex.[46][47] The increased sexual activity among adolescents is manifested in increased teenage pregnancies and an increase in sexually transmitted diseases.

Role of drug and alcohol use[edit]

Inhibition-reducing drugs and alcohol may possibly encourage unintended sexual activity. If so, it is unknown if the drugs themselves directly influence teenagers to engage in riskier behavior, or whether teenagers who engage in drug use are more likely to engage in sex. Correlation does not imply causation. The drugs with the strongest evidence linking to teenage pregnancy are alcohol, "ecstasy", cannabis, and amphetamines. The drugs with the least evidence to support a link to early pregnancy are opioids, such as heroin, morphine, and oxycodone, of which a wellknown effect is the significant reduction of libido it appears that teenage opioid users have significantly reduced rates of conception compared to their non-using, and alcohol, "ecstasy", cannabis, and amphetamine using peers. Amphetamines are often prescribed to treat ADHD internationally, the countries with the highest rates of recorded amphetamine prescription to teenagers also have the highest rates of teenage pregnancy.[2][45][48][49] Leonard Sax, M.D., Ph.D., 2005, Doubleday books, p. 128.

Lack of contraception[edit]
Main article: Birth control Adolescents may lack knowledge of, or access to, conventional methods of preventing pregnancy, as they may be too embarrassed or frightened to seek such information.[46][50] Contraception for teenagers presents a huge challenge for the clinician. In 1998, the government of the United Kingdom set a target to halve the under-18 pregnancy rate by 2010. The Teenage Pregnancy Strategy (TPS) was established to achieve this. The pregnancy rate in this group, although falling, rose slightly in 2007, to 41.7 per 1000 women. Young women often think of contraception either as 'the pill' or condoms and have little knowledge about other methods. They are heavily influenced by negative, second-hand stories about methods of contraception from their friends and the media. Prejudices are extremely difficult to overcome. Over concern about side-effects, for example weight gain and acne, often affect choice. Missing up to three pills a month is common, and in this age group the figure is likely to be higher. Restarting after the pillfree week, having to hide pills, drug interactions and difficulty getting repeat prescriptions can all lead to method failure.[51] In the United States, according to the 2002 National Surveys of Family Growth, sexually active adolescent women wishing to avoid pregnancy were less likely than those of other ages to use contraceptives (18% of 15- to 19-year-olds used no contraceptives, versus 10.7% average for women ages 15 to 44).[52] More than 80% of teen pregnancies are unintended.[53] Over half of unintended pregnancies were to women not using contraceptives,[52] most of the rest are due to inconsistent or incorrect use.[53] 23% of sexually active young women in a 1996 Seventeen magazine poll admitted to having had unprotected sex with a partner who did not use a condom, while 70% of girls in a 1997 PARADE poll claimed it was embarrassing to buy birth control or request information from a doctor.[46]

In a study for The Guttmacher Institute, researchers found that from a comparative perspective, however, teenage pregnancy rates in the United States are less nuanced than one might initially assume. Since timing and levels of sexual activity are quite similar across [Sweden, France, Canada, Great Britain, and the U.S.], the high U.S. rates arise primarily because of less, and possibly less-effective, contraceptive use by sexually active teenagers.[54] Thus, the cause for the discrepancy between rich nations can be traced largely to contraceptive-based issues. Among teens in the UK seeking an abortion, a study found that the rate of contraceptive use was roughly the same for teens as for older women.[55] In other cases, contraception is used, but proves to be inadequate. Inexperienced adolescents may use condoms incorrectly, forget to take oral contraceptives, or fail to use the contraceptives they had previously chosen. Contraceptive failure rates are higher for teenagers, particularly poor ones, than for older users.[48] Long-acting contraceptives such as intrauterine devices, subcutaneous contraceptive implants, and contraceptive injections (such as Depo-Provera and Combined injectable contraceptive), which prevent pregnancy for months or years at a time, are more effective in women who have trouble remembering to take pills or using barrier methods consistently.

Age discrepancy in relationships[edit]

According to the conservative lobbying organization Family Research Council, studies in the US indicate that age discrepancy between the teenage girls and the men who impregnate them is an important contributing factor. Teenage girls in relationships with older boys, and in particular with adult men, are more likely to become pregnant than teenage girls in relationships with boys their own age. They are also more likely to carry the baby to term rather than have an abortion. A review of California's 1990 vital statistics found that men older than high school age fathered 77% of all births to high school-aged girls (ages 1618), and 51% of births to junior high schoolaged girls (15 and younger). Men over age 25 fathered twice as many children of teenage mothers than boys under age 18, and men over age 20 fathered five times as many children of junior high school-aged girls as did junior high school-aged boys. A 1992 Washington state study of 535 adolescent mothers found that 62% of the mothers had a history of being raped or sexually molested by men whose ages averaged 27 years. This study found that, compared with nonabused mothers, abused adolescent mothers initiated sex earlier, had sex with much older partners, and engaged in riskier, more frequent, and promiscuous sex. Studies by the Population Reference Bureau and the National Center for Health Statistics found that about two-thirds of children born to teenage girls in the United States are fathered by adult men age 20 or older.[56]

Sexual abuse[edit]
See also: Sexual abuse Studies from South Africa have found that 1120% of pregnancies in teenagers are a direct result of rape, while about 60% of teenage mothers had unwanted sexual experiences preceding their pregnancy. Before age 15, a majority of first-intercourse experiences among females are reported to be non-voluntary; the Guttmacher Institute found that 60% of girls who had sex before age 15

were coerced by males who on average were six years their senior.[citation needed] One in five teenage fathers admitted to forcing girls to have sex with them.[57] Multiple studies have indicated a strong link between early childhood sexual abuse and subsequent teenage pregnancy in industrialized countries. Up to 70% of women who gave birth in their teens were molested as young girls; by contrast, 25% for women who did not give birth as teens were molested.[58][59][60] In some countries, sexual intercourse between a minor and an adult is not considered consensual under the law because a minor is believed to lack the maturity and competence to make an informed decision to engage in fully consensual sex with an adult. In those countries, sex with a minor is therefore considered statutory rape. In most European countries, by contrast, once an adolescent has reached the age of consent, he or she can legally have sexual relations with adults because it is held that in general (although certain limitations may still apply), reaching the age of consent enables a juvenile to consent to sex with any partner who has also reached that age. Therefore, the definition of statutory rape is limited to sex with a person under the minimum age of consent. What constitutes statutory rape ultimately differs by jurisdiction (see age of consent).

Dating violence[edit]
See also: Dating abuse and Teen dating violence Studies have indicated that adolescent girls are often in abusive relationships at the time of their conceiving.[61][61][62] They have also reported that knowledge of their pregnancy has often intensified violent and controlling behaviors on part of their boyfriends. Women under age 18 are twice as likely to be beaten by their child's father than women over age 18. A UK study found that 70% of women who gave birth in their teens had experienced adolescent domestic violence. Similar results have been found in studies in the United States. A Washington State study found 70% of teenage mothers had been beaten by their boyfriends, 51% had experienced attempts of birth control sabotage within the last year, and 21% experienced school or work sabotage. In a study of 379 pregnant or parenting teens and 95 teenage girls without children, 62% of the girls aged 1115 years and 56% of girls aged 1619 years reported experiencing domestic violence at the hands of their partners. Moreover, 51% of the girls reported experiencing at least one instance where their boyfriend attempted to sabotage their efforts to use birth control.[63]

Socioeconomic factors[edit]
Teenage pregnancy has been defined predominantly within the research field and among social agencies as a social problem. Poverty is associated with increased rates of teenage pregnancy.[48] Economically poor countries such as Niger and Bangladesh have far more teenage mothers compared with economically rich countries such as Switzerland and Japan.[64]

A young poverty-stricken girl clutches her child. Image from ca 1884. In the UK, around half of all pregnancies to under 18s are concentrated among the 30% most deprived population, with only 14% occurring among the 30% least deprived.[65] For example, in Italy, the teenage birth rate in the well-off central regions is only 3.3 per 1,000, while in the poorer Mezzogiorno it is 10.0 per 1,000.[2] Similarly, in the United States, sociologist Mike A. Males noted that teenage birth rates closely mapped poverty rates in California:[66] County Poverty rate Birth rate* Marin County 5% 5 Tulare County (Caucasians) 18% 50 Tulare County (Hispanics) 40% 100
* per 1000 women aged 1519

Teen pregnancy cost the United States over $9.1 billion in 2004, including $1.9 billion for health care, $2.3 billion for child welfare, $2.1 billion for incarceration, and $2.9 billion in lower tax revenue.[67] There is little evidence to support the common belief that teenage mothers become pregnant to get benefits, welfare, and council housing. Most knew little about housing or financial aid before they got pregnant and what they thought they knew often turned out to be wrong.[42]

Childhood environment[edit]

Women exposed to abuse, domestic violence, and family strife in childhood are more likely to become pregnant as teenagers, and the risk of becoming pregnant as a teenager increases with the number of adverse childhood experiences.[citation needed] According to a 2004 study, one-third of teenage pregnancies could be prevented by eliminating exposure to abuse, violence, and family strife. The researchers note that "family dysfunction has enduring and unfavorable health consequences for women during the adolescent years, the childbearing years, and beyond." When the family environment does not include adverse childhood experiences, becoming pregnant as an adolescent does not appear to raise the likelihood of long-term, negative psychosocial consequences.[68] Studies have also found that boys raised in homes with a battered mother, or who experienced physical violence directly, were significantly more likely to impregnate a girl.[69] Studies have also found that girls whose fathers left the family early in their lives had the highest rates of early sexual activity and adolescent pregnancy. Girls whose fathers left them at a later age had a lower rate of early sexual activity, and the lowest rates are found in girls whose fathers were present throughout their childhood. Even when the researchers took into account other factors that could have contributed to early sexual activity and pregnancy, such as behavioral problems and life adversity, early father-absent girls were still about five times more likely in the United States and three times more likely in New Zealand to become pregnant as adolescents than were father-present girls.[70][71] Low educational expectations have been pinpointed as a risk factor.[72] A girl is also more likely to become a teenage parent if her mother or older sister gave birth in her teens.[27][30] A majority of respondents in a 1988 Joint Center for Political and Economic Studies survey attributed the occurrence of adolescent pregnancy to a breakdown of communication between parents and child and also to inadequate parental supervision.[46] Foster care youth are more likely than their peers to become pregnant as teenagers. The National Casey Alumni Study, which surveyed foster care alumni from 23 communities across the United States, found the birth rate for girls in foster care was more than double the rate of their peers outside the foster care system. A University of Chicago study of youth transitioning out of foster care in Illinois, Iowa, and Wisconsin found that nearly half of the females had been pregnant by age 19. The Utah Department of Human Services found that girls who had left the foster care system between 1999 and 2004 had a birth rate nearly 3 times the rate for girls in the general population.[73]

Media influence[edit]
A study conducted in 2006 found that adolescents who were more exposed to sexuality in the media were also more likely to engage in sexual activity themselves.[74] According to Time, "teens exposed to the most sexual content on TV are twice as likely as teens watching less of this material to become pregnant before they reach age 20".[75]

Prevention[edit]

Many health educators have argued that comprehensive sex education would effectively reduce the number of teenage pregnancies, although opponents argue that such education encourages more and earlier sexual activity.

Netherlands[edit]
The Dutch approach to preventing teenage pregnancy has often been seen as a model by other countries. The curriculum focuses on values, attitudes, communication and negotiation skills, as well as biological aspects of reproduction. The media has encouraged open dialogue and the health-care system guarantees confidentiality and a non-judgmental approach.[76]

United Kingdom[edit]
See also: Teenage pregnancy and sexual health in the United Kingdom In the UK, the teenage pregnancy strategy, which was run first by the Department of Health and is now based out of the Children, Young People and Families directorate in the Department for Children, Schools and Families, works on several levels to reduce teenage pregnancy and increase the social inclusion of teenage mothers and their families by:

joined up action, making sure branches of government and health and education services work together effectively; prevention of teenage pregnancy through better sex education and improving contraceptive and advice services for young people, involving young people in service design, supporting the parents of teenagers to talk to them about sex and relationships, and targeting high-risk groups; better support for teenage mothers, including help returning to education, advice and support, work with young fathers, better childcare and increasing the availability of supported housing.

The teenage pregnancy strategy has had mixed success. Although teenage pregnancies have fallen overall, they have not fallen consistently in every region, and in some areas they have increased. There are questions about whether the 2010 target of a 50% reduction on 1998 levels can be met.

United States[edit]
In the United States, the topic of sex education is the subject of much contentious debate. Some schools provide "abstinence-only" education and virginity pledges are increasingly popular. A 2004 study by Yale and Columbia Universities found that 88% of those who pledge abstinence have premarital sex anyway.[77] Most public schools offer "abstinence-plus" programs that support abstinence but also offer advice about contraception. A team of researchers and educators in California have published a list of "best practices" in the prevention of teen pregnancy, which includes, in addition to the previously mentioned concepts, working to "instill a belief in a successful future", male involvement in the prevention process, and designing interventions that are culturally relevant.[78] On September 30, 2010, The U.S. Department of

Health and Human Services approved $155 million dollars in new funding for comprehensive sex education programs designed to prevent teenage pregnancy. The money is being awarded "to states, non-profit organizations, school districts, universities and others. These grants will support the replication of teen pregnancy prevention programs that have been shown to be effective through rigorous research as well as the testing of new, innovative approaches to combating teen pregnancy."[79] For teens who choose to engage in sexual activity, the primary mode of preventing teen pregnancy becomes correct use of contraceptives. In the States, one policy initiative that has been used to increase rates of contraceptive use is Title X: Title X of the 1970 Public Health Service act provides family planning services for those who do not qualify for Medicaid by distributing funding to a network of public, private, and nonprofit entities [in order to provide] services on a sliding scale based on income.[80] Studies indicate that, internationally, success in reducing teen pregnancy rates is directly correlated with the kind of access that Title X provides: What appears crucial to success is that adolescents know where they can go to obtain information and services, can get there easily and are assured of receiving confidential, nonjudgmental care, and that these services and contraceptive supplies are free or cost very little.[54] In addressing high rates of unplanned teen pregnancies, scholars agree that the problem must be confronted from both the biological and cultural contexts.

Developing world[edit]
In the developing world, programs of reproductive health aimed at teenagers are often small scale and not centrally coordinated, although some countries such as Sri Lanka have a systematic policy framework for teaching about sex within schools.[39] Non-governmental agencies such as the International Planned Parenthood Federation and Marie Stopes International provide contraceptive advice for young women worldwide. Laws against child marriage have reduced but not eliminated the practice. Improved female literacy and educational prospects have led to an increase in the age at first birth in areas such as Iran, Indonesia, and the Indian state of Kerala.

Prevalence[edit]
Main article: Prevalence of teenage pregnancy

Teenage birth rate per 1,000 females aged 1519, 20002009[81] In reporting teenage pregnancy rates, the number of pregnancies per 1,000 females aged 15 to 19 when the pregnancy ends is generally used.[82] The rates of teenage pregnancy vary and range from 143 per 1,000 women in some sub-Saharan African countries to 2.9 per 1000 in South Korea.[1][2] According to a 2001 UNICEFsurvey, in 10 out of 12 developed nations with available data, more than two thirds of young people have had sexual intercourse while still in their teens. In Denmark, Finland, Germany, Iceland, Norway, the United Kingdom and the United States, the proportion is over 80%. In Australia, the United Kingdom and the United States, approximately 25% of 15 year olds and 50% of 17 year olds have had sex.[2] Save the Children found that, annually, 13 million children are born to women under age 20 worldwide, more than 90% in developing countries. Complications of pregnancy and childbirth are the leading cause of mortality among women between the ages of 15 and 19 in such areas.[4] The highest rate of teenage pregnancy in the world is in sub-Saharan Africa, where women tend to marry at an early age.[1] In Niger, for example, 87% of women surveyed were married and 53% had given birth to a child before the age of 18.[38] In the Indian subcontinent, early marriage sometimes results in adolescent pregnancy, particularly in ruralregions where the rate is much higher than it is in urbanized areas. Latest data suggests that teen pregnancy in India is high with 62 pregnant teens out of every 1,000 women.[83] The rate of early marriage and pregnancy has decreased sharply in Indonesia and Malaysia, although it remains relatively high in the former. In the industrialized Asian nations such as South Korea and Singapore, teenage birth rates are among the lowest in the world.[39] The overall trend in Europe since 1970 has been a decreasing total fertility rate, an increase in the age at which women experience their first birth, and a decrease in the number of births among teenagers. Most continental Western European countries have very low teenage birth rates. This is varyingly attributed to good sex education and high levels of contraceptive use (in the case of the Netherlands and Scandinavia), traditional values andsocial stigmatization (in the case of Spain and Italy) or both (in the case of Switzerland).[2]

The teenage birth rate in the United States is the highest in the developed world, and the teenage abortion rate is also high.[2] The U.S. teenage pregnancy rate was at a high in the 1950s and has decreased since then, although there has been an increase in births out of wedlock.[84] The teenage pregnancy rate decreased significantly in the 1990s; this decline manifested across all racial groups, although teenagers of African-American and Hispanic descent retain a higher rate, in comparison to that of European-Americans and Asian-Americans. The Guttmacher Institute attributed about 25% of the decline to abstinence and 75% to the effective use of contraceptives.[85] While in 2006 the U.S. teen birth rate rose for the first time in fourteen years,[86] it reached a historic low in 2010: 34.3 births per 1,000 women aged 1519.[87] The Canadian teenage birth has also trended towards a steady decline for both younger (1517) and older (1819) teens in the period between 1992 and 2002.[88] The age of the mother is determined by the easily verified date when the pregnancy ends, not by the estimated date of conception.[89] Consequently, the statistics do not include women who became pregnant at least shortly before their 20th birthdays, but who gave birth, experienced a miscarriage, or had a voluntary abortion on or after their 20th birthdays.[89] Similarly, statistics on the mother's marital status are determined by whether she is married at the end of the pregnancy, not at the time of conception.

Teenage fatherhood[edit]
In some cases, the father of the child is the husband of the teenage girl. The conception may occur within wedlock, or the pregnancy itself may precipitate the marriage (the so-called shotgun wedding). In countries such as India the majority of teenage births occur within marriage.[2][39] In other countries, such as the United States and the Republic of Ireland, the majority of teenage mothers are not married to the fathers of their children.[2][90] In the UK, half of all teenagers with children are lone parents, 40% are cohabitating as a couple and 10% are married.[91] Teenage parents are frequently in a romantic relationship at the time of birth, but many adolescent fathers do not stay with the mother and this often disrupts their relationship with the child. Research has shown that when teenage fathers are included in decision-making during pregnancy and birth, they are more likely to report increased involvement with their children in later years.[92] In the U.S, eight out of ten teenage fathers do not marry their first child's mother.[93] However, "teenage father" may be a misnomer in many cases. Studies by the Population Reference Bureau and the National Center for Health Statistics found that about two-thirds of births to teenage girls in the United States are fathered by adult men age 20 or older.[94][95] The Guttmacher Institute reports that over 40% of mothers aged 1517 had sexual partners three to five years older and almost one in five had partners six or more years older.[96] A 1990 study of births to California teens reported that the younger the mother, the greater the age gap with her male partner.[97] In the UK 72% of jointly registered births to women under the age of 20, the father is over the age of 20, with almost 1 in 4 being over 25.[98]

History[edit]

Teenage pregnancy was normal in previous centuries, and common in developed countries in the 20th century. Among Norwegian women born in the early 1950s, nearly a quarter became teenage mothers by the early 1970s. However, the rates have steadily declined since that 20th century peak. Among those born in Norway in the late 1970s, less than 10% became teenage mothers, and rates have remained stable and lower since then.[99] Perhaps the most famous teenage pregnancy in history was Mary, Mother of Jesus. She is generally believed to have been 13 years old when she gave birth to Jesus.[100] Other sources place her age as high as 15 years.[citation needed] Hildegard of Vinzgouw, the wife of Charlemagne was about 14 years old when she gave birth to her first son in 772 CE. The mother of Henry VII of England was 13 years old when she gave birth to him in 1457. Maria of Tver, the wife of Ivan the Great of Russia, gave birth to her first son when she was about 16 years old, in 1458. Empress Teimei of Japan was 16 years old when she gave birth to Hirohito in 1901. Lina Medina of Peru holds the world record for youngest live birth: She was five years, seven months old when she gave birth in 1939.

Society and culture[edit]

Politics[edit]
Some politicians condemn pregnancy in unmarried teenagers as a drain on taxpayers, if the mothers and children receive welfare payments from the government.[101]

Media[edit]
Teenage pregnancy has been used as a theme or plot device in fiction, including books, films, and television series. The setting may be historical (The Blue Lagoon, Hope and Glory) or contemporary (One Tree Hill). While the subject is generally treated in a serious manner (Junk), it can sometimes play up to stereotypes in a comic manner (Vicky Pollard in Little Britain). The pregnancy itself may be the result of sexual abuse (Rose in The Cider House Rules), a onenight stand (Amy Barnes in Hollyoaks), a romantic relationship (Demi Miller in EastEnders); (Ronnie Mitchell in EastEnders); or a first time sexual encounter (Sarah-Louise Platt in Coronation Street) and (Kathy Stabler in Law & Order: Special Victims Unit unusually, in Quinceaera, the central character becomes pregnant through non-penetrative sex. The drama often focuses around the discovery of the pregnancy and the decision to opt for abortion (Fast Times at Ridgemont High), adoption (Mom at Sixteen, Juno, Glee), marriage (Sugar & Spice, Reba and Jeni, Juno) or life as a single mother (Saved!, Where the Heart Is, Someone Like You). In the German play Spring Awakening (and the Broadway musical based upon it), the central female character gets pregnant and dies from a botched abortion. Stephanie Daley deals with the aftermath of a teenage pregnancy that ends with a dead newborn baby. While the pregnant girl herself is normally the chief protagonist, Too Young to Be a Dad centers on a 15-year-old boy

whose girlfriend becomes pregnant, while The Snapper focuses on the reactions of the family, particularly the soon-to-be grandfather. Other fiction, particularly in a long-running television series, looks at the long-term effects of becoming a parent at a very young age (Degrassi Junior High). In Gilmore Girls, because Lorelai Gilmore is only 16 years older than her daughter Rory, the two are more like sisters than parent and child. Looking for Alibrandi also features the teenage daughter of a woman who was herself a teenage mother. In George Lopez, Benny Lopez, gave birth to George at 16. In the ABC Family television show The Secret Life of the American Teenager centers on Amy Juergens, a 15-year-old who becomes a teenage mother after a one night stand. In the popular Comedy Central television show South Park the character Carol McCormick was said to have had her sons Kevin McCormick at 13, and Kenny McCormick at 16. In the Japanese drama 14-sai no Haha: Aisuru tame ni Umaretekita, the protagonist Miki Ichinose becomes pregnant with her boyfriend's child at age 14. The show examines the impact of her pregnancy on her, her family, her school life, the life of her boyfriend and his family, and the society in which she resides. In the video game series The Idolmaster, a character named Ai Hidaka was born when her mother was 16. Additionally, reality television shows have featured teenage pregnancy stories. MTV launched two reality shows about the topic, 16 and Pregnant and Teen Mom, in 2009. Each show depicts the gritty reality that pregnant teens face from friends and family while going through this life changing event, allowing teens to see what actually happens in this scenario through an outlet other than a scripted plot. Autobiographies that look at the authors own experience of teenage motherhood include I Know Why the Caged Bird Sings and Gather Together in My Name by Maya Angelou, Coal Miner's Daughter by Loretta Lynn, and Riding in Cars with Boys by Beverly D'Onofrio. Songs about teenage pregnancy include downbeat tales of abuse ("Brenda's Got a Baby"), poverty ("In The Ghetto") and back-alley abortion ("Sally's Pigeons"), as well as upbeat and defiant tunes such as "Papa Don't Preach". American pop singer Fantasia Barrino, who was 17 when she gave birth to her daughter, released a controversial song about single motherhood titled "Baby Mama", describing the difficulty of raising a child alone with limited financial and family support. (Many U.S. radio stations would not play the song, ostensibly because it contains a profanity.) "There Goes My Life", a modern country song by Kenny Chesney, focuses on the reaction of the father, who rhetorically asks, "I'm just a kid myself; how am I going to raise one?" As the daughter grows up, his attitude changes, and the song ends with his tearful farewell as she leaves for college. Due to its implied pro-life message, "There Goes My Life" was sung at the inauguration of George W. Bush in 2005.[citation needed]

See also[edit]

Birth rate List of youngest birth mothers Nutrition and pregnancy Pregnancy over age 50 Pregnancy school

Reproduction Reproductive coercion Sex education Sexual abstinence Single parent Teen marriage

References[edit]
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57. ^ Kerry Cullinan Teen mothers often forced into sex. www.csa.za.org. 23 November 2003 58. ^ Saewyc, E.M., Lara Leanne Magee, L.M., Pettingell, S.E., (2004) Teenage pregnancy and associated risk behaviors among sexually abused adolescents, Perspectives on Sexual and Reproductive Health, MayJune, Findarticles.com. Retrieved on 2011-12-03. 59. ^ Elizabeth M. Saewyc, Lara Leanne Magee and Sandra E. Pettingell (2004). Teenage Pregnancy and Associated Risk Behaviors Among Sexually Abused Adolescents. 60. ^ Study Links Childhood Sexual Abuse, Teen Pregnancy University of Southern California, Science Blog, 2004 61. ^ a b Rosen D (2004). ""I Just Let Him Have His Way" Partner Violence in the Lives of Low-Income, Teenage Mothers". Violence Against Women 10 (1): 628. doi:10.1177/1077801203256069. 62. ^ Quinlivan J (Winter 2006). "Teenage pregnancy" (PDF). O & G 8 (2): 256. Retrieved 2009-06-22. 63. ^ cpeip.fsu.edu 64. ^ Indicator: Births per 1000 women (1519 ys) 2002 UNFPA, State of World Population 2003, Retrieved Jan 22, 2007. 65. ^ "Teenage Conceptions By Small Area Deprivation In England and Wales 2001-2" (Spring 2007)Health Statistics Quarterly Volume 33 66. ^ Males, Mike (2001) Americas Pointless "Teen Sex" Squabble, c Youth Today. 67. ^ Teen Births Cost U.S. Government $9.1B In 2004 Despite Drop In Teen Birth, Pregnancy Rates, Report Says. Medicalnewstoday.com. Retrieved on 2011-12-03. 68. ^ Tamkins, T. (2004) Teenage pregnancy risk rises with childhood exposure to family strife Perspectives on Sexual and Reproductive Health, MarchApril 2004 69. ^ Anda, R. F.; Felitti, V. J.; Chapman, D. P.; Croft, J. B.; Williamson, D. F.; Santelli, J.; Dietz, P. M.; Marks, J. S. (2001). "Abused boys, battered mothers, and male involvement in teen pregnancy". Pediatrics 107 (2): E19. doi:10.1542/peds.107.2.e19. PMID 11158493. 70. ^ Ellis, Bruce J. et al. (2003) Does Father Absence Place Daughters at Special Risk for Early Sexual Activity and Teenage Pregnancy? Child Development, v74 n3 p801-21 MayJun 2003 71. ^ Quigley, Ann (2003) Father's Absence Increases Daughter's Risk of Teen Pregnancy Health Behavior News Service, May 27, 2003 72. ^ Allen, E; Bonell, C; Strange, V; Copas, A; Stephenson, J; Johnson, A M; Oakley, A (2007). "Does the UK government's teenage pregnancy strategy deal with the correct risk factors? Findings from a secondary analysis of data from a randomised trial of sex education and their implications for policy". J Epidemiol Community Health 61 (1): 20 7. doi:10.1136/jech.2005.040865. PMC 2465587. PMID 17183010. 73. ^ Fostering Hope: Preventing Teen Pregnancy Among Youth in Foster Care PDF (42.1 KB) A Joint Project of The National Campaign to Prevent Teen Pregnancy and UCAN (Uhlich Childrens Advantage Network) 16 Feb 2006 74. ^ LEngle, Kelly Ladin; Brown, Jane D.; Kenneavy, Kristin (2006). "The mass media are an important context for adolescents' sexual behavior". Journal of Adolescent Health 38 (3): 186192. doi:10.1016/j.jadohealth.2005.03.020. PMID 16488814. 75. ^ Park, Alice (November 3, 2008). "Sex on TV Increases Teen Pregnancy, Says Report". Time.

76. ^ Valk, Guus (July 2000). "The Dutch Model". The UNESCO Courier 53 (7): 19. Retrieved July 3, 2011. 77. ^ Hauser, Emily L. (2008-09-07). "Advise, console". Opinion (Chicago Tribune). Retrieved 2009-02-15. 78. ^ Fe Moncloa, Marilyn Johns, Elizabeth J. Gong, Stephen Russell, Faye Lee and Estella West (2003). "Best Practices in Teen Pregnancy Prevention Practitioner Handbook". Journal of Extension 41 (2). 79. ^ U.S. Department of Health & Human Services. "HHS Awards Evidence-based Teen Pregnancy Prevention Grants". Retrieved 15 February 2011. 80. ^ The National Campaign to Prevent Teen and Unplanned Pregnancy. "Policy Brief: Title X Plays a Critical Role in Preventing Unplanned Pregnancy". Retrieved 15 February 2011. 81. ^ Live births by age of mother and sex of child, general and age-specific fertility rates: latest available year, 20002009 United Nations Statistics Division Demographic and Social Statistics 82. ^ Teenage pregnancy Definitions. Statcan.gc.ca (2007-06-05). Retrieved on 2011-1203. 83. ^ Dawan, Himanshi (28 November 2008). "Teen pregnancies higher in India than even UK, US". The Economic times. Retrieved 2 May 2013. 84. ^ [1]. guttmacher.org (2002-02-01). Retrieved on 2011-12-03. 85. ^ U.S. Teenage Pregnancy Rate Drops For 10th Straight Year." Retrieved July 7, 2006. 86. ^ Joyce A. Martin; Brady E. Hamilton; Paul D. Sutton; Stephanie J. Ventura; Fay Menacker; Sharon Kirmeyer; and T.J. Mathews (January 7, 2009). "Births: Final Data for 2006". National Vital Statistics Reports 57 (7). 87. ^ Brady E. Hamilton and Stephanie J. Ventura, M.A. (April 10, 2012). "Birth Rates for U.S. Teenagers Reach Historic Lows for All Age and Ethnic Groups". Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. Retrieved April 18, 2012. 88. ^ Dryburgh, H. (2002). Teenage pregnancy. Health Reports, 12 (1), 918; Statistics Canada . (2005). Health Indicators, 2005, 2. Retrieved from Facts and Statistics: Sexual Health and Canadian Youth Teen Pregnancy Rates 89. ^ a b Kost K, Henshaw S and Carlin L, (2010). U.S. Teenage Pregnancies, Births and Abortions: National and State Trends and Trends by Race and Ethnicity. "Pregnancies are the sum of births, abortions and miscarriages. Please note that in these tables, age refers to the womans age when the pregnancy ended. Consequently, actual numbers of pregnancies that occurred among teenagers are higher than those reported here, because most of the women who conceived at age 19 had their births or abortions after they turned 20 and, thus, were not counted as teenagers." 90. ^ National Campaign to Prevent Teen Pregnancy. (2007). Do most teens who choose to raise the child get married when they find out they're pregnant? 91. ^ "Census 2001 People aged 1629" Office For National Statistics 92. ^ Fagan, Jay; Barnett, Marina; Bernd, Elisa; and Whiteman, Valerie (2003). "Prenatal involvement of adolescent unmarried fathers". Fathering 1 (3): 283. doi:10.3149/fth.0103.283. 93. ^ "Teen Pregnancy and Responsible Fatherhood" The National Campaign to Prevent Teen and Unplanned Pregnancy.

94. ^ De Vita, Carol J. (1996) "The United States at Mid-Decade," Population Bulletin, vol. 50, no. 4 (Washington, D.C.: Population Reference Bureau, Inc., March 1996) 95. ^ National Center for Health Statistic (Sept. 1993). "Advance Report of Final Natality Statistics". Monthly Vital Statistics Report (National Center for Health Statistics) 42 (3, Supplement 9). 96. ^ Family Planning Perspectives, July/August 1995. 97. ^ California Resident Live Births, 1990, by Age of Father, by Age of Mother, California Vital Statistics Section, Department of Heath Services, 1992. 98. ^ FM1 Birth statistics no.34 (2005) Office For National Statistics pp 1415. Note: 24% of births to women under 20 were solo registrations where the age of the father cannot be determined. 99. ^ Lappegrd, Trude. (2000) New fertility trends in Norway: Trends in First Childbirth Max-Planck-Gesellschaft ISSN 1435-9871 100. ^ Hazleton, Lesley (2005). Mary: A Flesh-and-Blood Biography of the Virgin Mother. Bloomsbury USA. pp. 2025. ISBN 1-58234-475-2. 101. ^ Dorothy. Killing the Black Body: Race, Reproduction, and the Meaning of Liberty. New York: Pantheon Books, 1997. Chapter 3

Further reading[edit]

Armstrong, Bruce (2001). "Adolescent Pregnancy". In Alex Gitterman. Handbook of Social Work Practice with Vulnerable and Resilient Populations (2nd ed.). New York, NY: Columbia University Press. ISBN 0-231-11396-X. Baker, Philip (2007). Teenage Pregnancy and Reproductive Health. RCOG. ISBN 978-1904752-38-7. Checkland, David and James Wong (1999). Teen Pregnancy and Parenting: Social and Ethical Issues. Toronto, Canada; Buffalo, NY: University of Toronto Press. ISBN 08020-4215-5. Dash, Leon (2003, 1989). When Children want Children: The Urban Crisis of Teenage Childbearing (1st Illinois paperback ed.). Urbana, IL: University of Illinois Press. ISBN 0-252-07123-9. Erickson, Pamela I. (1998). Latina Adolescent Childbearing in East Los Angeles. Austin, TX: University of Texas Press. ISBN 0-292-72093-9. Kaplan, Elaine Bell (1997). Not Our Kind of Girl: Unraveling the Myths of Black Teenage Motherhood. Berkeley, CA: University of California Press. ISBN 0-520-087364. Harris, Irving B. (1996). Children in Jeopardy: Can We Break the Cycle of Poverty?. New Haven, CT: Yale Child Study Center: Distributed by Yale University Press. ISBN 0-300-06892-1. Luker, Kristin (1996). Dubious Conceptions: The Politics of Teenage Pregnancy. Cambridge, MA: Harvard University Press. ISBN 0-674-21702-0. Rhode, Deborah L. (2007). "Politics and Pregnancy: Adolescent Mothers and Public Policy". In Nancy Ehrenreich. The Reproductive Rights Reader. New York, NY: New York University Press. ISBN 978-0-8147-2230-5. Seitz, Victoria (1996). "Adolescent Pregnancy and Parenting". In Edward Zigler, Sharon Lynn Kagan, and Nancy Wilson Hall. Children, Families, and Government: Preparing

for the Twenty-First Century. New York, NY: Cambridge University Press. ISBN 0-52124219-3. Silverstein, Helena (2007). Girls on the Stand: How Courts Fail Pregnant Minors. New York, NY: New York University Press. ISBN 978-0-8147-4031-6.

External links[edit]

Teen Pregnancy at the Open Directory Project Teen Pregnancy Prevention at the Open Directory Project Teenage pregnancies and obstetric outcome

About Teen Pregnancy

On this Page

Teen Pregnancy in the United States Disparities in Teen Birth Rates The Importance of Prevention CDC Priority: Reducing Teen Pregnancy and Promoting Health Equity Among Youth Resources

Teen Pregnancy in the United States

In 2011, a total of 329,797 babies were born to women aged 1519 years, for a live birth rate of 31.3 per 1,000 women in this age group.1 This is a record low for U.S. teens in this age group, and a drop of 8% from 2010. Birth rates fell 11% for women aged 1517 years, and 7% for women aged 1819 years. While reasons for the declines are not clear, teens seem to be less sexually active, and more of those who are sexually active seem to be using birth control than in previous years.2

Source: Hamilton BE, Martin JA, Ventura SJ. Births: Preliminary data for 2010. National Vital Statistics Reports. 2011;60(2):Table S-2. *Hamilton BE, Martin JA, Ventura SJ. Births: Preliminary data for 2011. National Vital Statistics Reports. 2012;61(5). Table 2.

Disparities in Teen Birth Rates

Teen birth rates declined for all races and for Hispanics except for 1819 year old Asian/Pacific Islanders, for whom rates did not change. The decline was greatest for Hispanic teens, with a drop of 11% from 2010. Despite these declines, substantial disparities persist in teen birth rates, and teen pregnancy and childbearing continue to carry significant social and economic costs. The U.S. teen pregnancy, birth, sexually transmitted disease (STD), and abortion rates are substantially higher than those of other western industrialized nations.3

Non-Hispanic black youth, Hispanic/Latino youth, American Indian/Alaska Native youth, and socioeconomically disadvantaged youth of any race or ethnicity

experience the highest rates of teen pregnancy and childbirth. Together, black and Hispanic youth comprised 57% of U.S. teen births in 2011.1 CDC is focusing on these priority populations because of the need for greater public health efforts to improve the life opportunities of adolescents facing significant health disparities, as well as to have the greatest impact on overall U.S. teen birth rates. Other priority populations for CDCs teen pregnancy prevention efforts include young people in foster care and the juvenile justice system, and those otherwise living in conditions of risk.

The Importance of Prevention

Teen pregnancy and childbearing bring substantial social and economic costs through immediate and

long-term impacts on teen parents and their children.

In 2008, teen pregnancy and childbirth accounted for nearly $11 billion per year in costs to U.S. taxpayers for increased health care and foster care, increased incarceration rates among children of teen parents, and lost tax revenue because of lower educational attainment and income among teen mothers.4 Pregnancy and birth are significant contributors to high school drop out rates among girls. Only about 50% of teen mothers receive a high school diploma by 22 years of age, versus approximately 90% of women who had not given birth during adolescence.5 The children of teenage mothers are more likely to have lower school achievement and drop out of high school, have more health problems, be incarcerated at some time during adolescence, give birth as a teenager, and face unemployment as a young adult.6

These effects remain for the teen mother and her child even after adjusting for those factors that increased the teenagers risk for pregnancy, such as growing up in poverty, having parents with low levels of education, growing up in a single-parent family, and having poor performance in school. 3

CDC Priority: Reducing Teen Pregnancy and Promoting Health Equity Among Youth
Teen pregnancy prevention is one of CDCs top six priorities, a winnable battle in public health, and of paramount importance to health and quality of life for our youth. Evidence-based teen pregnancy

prevention programs typically address specific protective factors on the basis of knowledge, skills,

beliefs, or attitudes related to teen pregnancy. 1. 2. 3. 4. 5. 6. 7. 8. 9. 10. 11. Knowledge of sexual issues, HIV, other STDs, and pregnancy (including methods of prevention). Perception of HIV risk. Personal values about sex and abstinence. Attitudes toward condoms (pro and con). Perception of peer norms and behavior about sex. Individual ability to refuse sex and to use condoms. Intent to abstain from sex or limit number of partners. Communication with parents or other adults about sex, condoms, and contraception. Individual ability to avoid HIV/STD risk and risk behaviors. Avoidance of places and situations that might lead to sex. Intent to use a condom.7

In addition to evidence-based prevention programs, teens need access to youth-friendly clinical services. Parents and other trusted adults also play an important role in helping teens make healthy choices about relationships, sex, and birth control. Learn about what CDC and other federal agencies are doing to reduce teen pregnancy.

Resources
1 Hamilton BE, Martin JA, Ventura SJ. Births: Preliminary data for 2011. National Vital Statistics Reports. 2012;61(5). Table 2. 2 Martinez G, Copen CE, Abma JC. Teenagers in the United States: Sexual activity, contraceptive use, and childbearing, 20062010. National Survey of Family Growth. National Center for Health Statistics. National Vital Health Stat. 2011;23(31). 3 Singh S, Darroch JE. Adolescent pregnancy and childbearing: levels and trends in developed countries. Fam Plann Perspect. 2000;32(1):14-23. 4 National Campaign to Prevent Teen and Unplanned Pregnancy, Counting It Up: The Public Costs of Teen Childbearing 2011.

5 Perper K, Peterson K, Manlove J. Diploma Attainment Among Teen Mothers. Child Trends, Fact Sheet Publication #2010-01: Washington, DC: Child Trends; 2010. 6 Hoffman SD. Kids Having Kids: Economic Costs and Social Consequences of Teen Pregnancy. Washington, DC: The Urban Institute Press; 2008. 7 Kirby D, Laris BA, Rolleri L. The Impact of Sex and HIV Education Programs in Schools and Communities on Sexual Behaviors Among Young Adults. Scotts Valley, CA: ETR Associates; 2006.

een Pregnancy Prevention 20102015

Integrating Services, Programs, and Strategies Through Communitywide Initiatives: The Presidents Teen Pregnancy Prevention Initiative
As part of the President's Teen Pregnancy Prevention Initiative (TPPI), CDC is partnering with the federal Office of the Assistant Secretary for Health (OASH) to reduce teenage pregnancy and address disparities in teen pregnancy and birth rates. The OASH Office of Adolescent Health (OAH) is supporting public and private entities to fund medically accurate and age appropriate evidence-based or innovative program models to reduce teen pregnancy. The purpose of this program is to demonstrate the effectiveness of innovative, multicomponent, communitywide initiatives in reducing rates of teen pregnancy and births in communities with the highest rates, with a focus on reaching African American and Latino/Hispanic youth aged 1519 years. A communitywide model is an intervention implemented in defined communities (specified geographic area) applying a common approach with different strategies. Communitywide approaches will be tailored to the specified community, and will include broad-based strategies that reach a majority of youth in the community (i.e., through communication strategies and media campaigns); and intensive strategies reaching youth most in need of prevention programming (i.e., through implementation of evidence-based programs and improved links to services).

Program goals are

1. Reduce the rates of pregnancies and births to youth in the target areas. 2. Increase youth access to evidence-based and evidence-informed programs to prevent teen pregnancy. 3. Increase linkages between teen pregnancy prevention programs and community-based clinical services. 4. Educate stakeholders about relevant evidence-based and evidence-informed strategies to reduce teen pregnancy and data on needs and resources in target communities.

To achieve these goals for FY 20112015, nine state- and community-based organizations, including two Title X agencies, and five national organizations were funded through the

cooperative agreement, Teenage Pregnancy Prevention: Integrating Services, Programs, and Strategies Through Communitywide Initiatives. These awards were made through two competitive funding opportunity announcements (FOA): one through a joint FOA from OAH and CDC, and one from a joint Office of Population Affairs and CDC FOA. The national organizations will provide training and technical assistance to all funded organizations within this initiative. The state- and community-based grantees will provide training and technical assistance to youth-serving organizations and partners to implement the Key Components described below.

Five key components to be addressed through this program model are

Component 1: Community Mobilization and Sustainability

Engaging all sectors of the population in a communitywide effort to address teen pregnancy prevention. Community mobilization supports the sustainability of teen pregnancy prevention efforts by empowering community members and groups to take action to facilitate change. This component includes mobilizing necessary resources, disseminating information, generating support, and fostering cooperation across public and private sectors in the community.

Component 2: Evidence-Based Programs

Providing teens with evidence-based teen pregnancy prevention programs, including youth development and curriculum-based programs that reduce teen pregnancy and associated risk factors.

Component 3: Increasing Youth Access to Contraceptive and Reproductive Health Care Services

Ensuring clinical partners are providing teen friendly, culturally competent reproductive health care services that are easily accessible to all youth in the community, and establishing linkages between teen pregnancy prevention program partners and clinics that serve at risk youth from the target community.

Component 4: Stakeholder Education

Educating civic leaders, parents, and other community members about evidence-based strategies to reduce teen pregnancy and improve adolescent reproductive health, including needs and available resources in the target community.

Component 5: Working with Diverse Communities

Raising awareness of community partners about the link between teen pregnancy and social determinants of health, and ensuring culturally and linguistically appropriate programs and reproductive health care services are available to youth.

By addressing these core components, the following performance measures are expected within five years:

Youth outcomes:

Reduce teen birth rates by 10% in targeted communities. Reduce teen pregnancies in targeted communities. Increase the percentage of youth who abstain from or delay sexual intercourse. Increase the consistent and correct use of condoms and other effective methods of contraception among sexually active youth.

Program, practices, and community support outcomes:

Increase the number and percentage of youth within the target community who receive evidence-based and evidence-informed programs to prevent teen pregnancy. Increase the number and percentage of sexually active youth within the target community who are referred to and use clinical services. Increase adoption of state, local, or communitywide health, education, and youth service strategies supportive of adolescent reproductive health by educating relevant stakeholders on evidence-based and evidence-informed teen pregnancy prevention approaches and environmental supports. Through training and technical assistance, increase the capacity of the target community partners to select, implement, and evaluate evidence-based and evidence-informed programs with fidelity and with informed program adaptation as appropriate.

Funded partners are

National Partners Advocates for Youth CAI Global Healthy Teen Network John Snow, Inc. and JSI Research & Training Institute, Inc. National Campaign to Prevent Teen & Unplanned Pregnancy

Title X Partner Alabama Department of Public Health

State- and Community-Based Partners

Adolescent Pregnancy Prevention Campaign of North Carolina City of Hartford Department of Health and Human Services

Family Planning Council, Southeastern Pennsylvania (administering agency of Title X funds) New York City Department of Health and Mental Hygiene Georgia Campaign for Adolescent Power & Potential Massachusetts Alliance on Teen Pregnancy South Carolina Campaign to Prevent Teen Pregnancy University of Texas Health Science Center at San Antonio

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Email Print Page last reviewed: July 22, 2013 Page last updated: February 12, 2013 Content source: Division of Reproductive Health, National Center for Chronic Disease Prevention and Health Promotion

Teenage pregnancy is technically defined as occurring when women under the age of 20 become pregnant, although in the U.S. the term usually refers to girls younger than 18 years of age. Barring both medical and physical concerns, problems of teenage pregnancy arise from individual, familial, and social factors. These include but are not limited to: culture, religion, moral values and beliefs, law, education, economic circumstances, lack of support structures such as finding access to health care, contraception, and other resources, and mental and emotional wellbeing. Data supporting teen pregnancy as a social issue in developed countries include lower educational levels, higher rates of poverty, and other poorer "life outcomes" in children of teenage mothers. Teenage pregnancy in developed countries is usually outside of marriage, and, for this reason, it carries a social stigma in many communities and cultures.

Global incidence Industrialized and developing countries have distinctly different incidences of teenage pregnancy. In developed regions, such as North America and Western Europe, teen parents tend to be unmarried and adolescent pregnancy is seen as a social issue. By contrast, teen parents in developing countries are often wed, and their pregnancy may be welcomed by family and society. However, in these societies, early pregnancy may combine with malnutrition and poor health care to cause medical problems. A report by Save the Children found that, annually, 13 million children are born to women under age 20 worldwide. More than 90% of these births occur to women living in developing countries. Complications of pregnancy and childbirth are the leading cause of mortality among girls between the ages of 15 and 19 in such areas. In countries where it is illegal to have intercourse at a young age, such as the United Kingdom and the USA, the state should properly prosecute all offenders, especially those under the age threshold set by the state. But

this is not happening. Instead, the state is condoning under age sex by providing children as young as 13 and under with condoms! Is that not like giving them license to fornicate. Talk about mixed messages. The law is the law and it should be upheld to the letter - otherwise why bother having the law in the first place. The fact the state does not prosecute those under 16 (18 in the US) for sexual activity, is encouraging girls and boys to find older partners, who the state then prosecute. But they don't prosecute the under age girls or boys, just the older partner that the younger person has snagged, usually by posing as an older person on social websites. That being the case, if the state does not present the full facts to the jury as to who was responsible for commissioning the crime, very often only the older partner gets a prison sentence, while the younger person who was actually responsible in the first place - gets away scott free. In our book that does not qualify as a fair trial for the older person as required by Article 6(1) of the European Convention of Human Rights.

Africa The highest incidence of teenage pregnancy in the world 143 per 1,000 girls aged 15-19 years is in sub-Saharan Africa. Women in Africa, in general, get married at much earlier ages than women elsewhere leading to earlier pregnancies. In Niger, according to the Health and Demographic Survey in 1992, 47% of women aged 20-24 were married before 15 and 87% before 18. 53% of those surveyed also had given birth to a child before the age of 18. A Save the Children report identified 10 countries where motherhood carried the most risks for young women and their babies. Of these, 9 were in sub-Saharan Africa, and Niger, Liberia, and Mali were the nations where girls were the most at-risk. In the 10 highest-risk nations, more than one in six teenage girls between the ages of 15 to 19 gave birth annually, and nearly one in seven babies born to these teenagers died before the age of one year.

Asia In the Indian subcontinent, premarital sex is uncommon, but early marriage sometimes means adolescent pregnancy. The incidence of early marriage is higher in rural regions than it is in urbanized areas. Fertility rates in South Asia range from 71 to 119 births per 1000 women aged 1519. 30% of all Indian induced abortions are performed on women who are under 20. Other parts of Asia have shown a trend towards increasing age at marriage for both sexes. In South Korea and Singapore, marriage before age 20 has all but disappeared, and, although the occurrence of sexual intercourse before marriage has risen, rates of adolescent childbearing are low at 4 to 8 per 1000. The rate of early marriage and pregnancy has

decreased sharply in Indonesia and Malaysia; however, it remains high in comparison to the rest of Asia. Surveys from Thailand have found that a significant minority of unmarried adolescents are sexually active. Although premarital sex is considered normal behavior for males, particularly with sex workers, it is not always regarded as such for females. Most Thai youth reported that their first sexual experience, whether within or outside of marriage, was without contraception. The adolescent fertility rate in Thailand is relatively high at 60 per 1000. 25% of women admitted to hospitals in Thailand for complications of induced abortion are students. The Thai government has undertaken measures to inform the nation's youth about the prevention of Sexually transmitted diseases and unplanned pregnancy. According to the World Health Organization, in several Asian countries including Bangladesh and Indonesia, a large proportion (26-37%) of deaths among female adolescents can be attributed to maternal causes.

Europe Some figures for European countries (1998): Country Switzerland Netherlands Sweden Italy Spain Denmark France Belgium Greece Germany Czech Republic Ireland Poland Portugal Hungary United Kingdom Birth rate* 5.5 6.2 6.5 6.6 7.9 8.1 9.3 9.9 11.8 13.1 16.4 18.7 18.7 21.1 26.5 30.8 Abortion rate* (not available) 3.9 17.7 6.7 4.9 15.4 13.2 5.2 1.3 5.3 12.4 (not available) (not available) (not available) 30.2 21.3 % married teenage mothers 61% 35% 18% 55% 40% 23% 15% 42% 80% 39% 47% 4% 60% 45% 36% 10%

* per 1000 women aged 15-19

The overall trend in Europe since 1970 has been a decreasing total fertility rate, an increase in the age at which women experience their first birth, and a decrease in the number of births among teenagers. However, in the past, teenage mothers in Europe tended to be married, and therefore

were less likely to be perceived as a social issue. Some countries, such as Greece and Poland, retain a traditional model of births to married mothers in their late teens. The rates of teenage pregnancy may vary widely within a country. For instance, in the United Kingdom, the rate of adolescent pregnancy in 2002 was as high as 100.4 per 1000 among young women living in the London Borough of Lambeth, and as low as 20.2 per 1000 among residents in the Midlands local authority area of Rutland. In Italy, the teenage birth rate in central regions is only 3.3 per 1,000, but, in the Mezzogiorno it is 10.0 per 1000. The U.K, which has the highest teenage birth rate in Europe, also has a higher rate of abortion than most European countries. 80% of young Britons reported engaging in sexual intercourse while still in their teens, although a half of those under 16, and one-third of those between 16 to 19, said they did not use a form of contraception during their first encounter. Less than 10% of British teen mothers are married and a relatively high proportion of them are under the age of 16. Adolescent pregnancy is viewed as a matter of concern by both the British government and the British press. Other countries like Portugal also have a higher percentage of teenage pregnancy and still abortion continues to be illegal, due to the fact that the studies about people's wishes abortion is marked to January of 2007. In contrast, the Netherlands has a low rate of births and abortions among teenagers. Compared to countries with higher teenage birth rates, the Dutch have a higher average age at first intercourse and increased levels of contraceptive use (including the "double Dutch" method of using both a contraceptive pill and a condom). Nordic countries, such as Denmark and Sweden, also have low rates of teenage birth, but their abortion rates are higher than those of the Netherlands. In some countries, such as Italy and Spain, the low rate of adolescent pregnancy may be attributed to traditional values and social stigmatization. These countries also have low overall fertility rates. Teenage birth is associated with disadvantages in later life. Across 13 nations in the European Union, women who gave birth as teenagers are twice as likely to be living in poverty, in comparison to those who wait until they are over 20.

North America The United States, at 48.8 births per 1,000 women aged 1519 in 2000, has the highest teen birth rate in the developed world. The rate of abortion among American adolescents is also high. If all pregnancies, including those which end in termination, are taken into account, then the total rate is 83.6 pregnancies per 1,000 girls. However, the trend is decreasing: in 1990, the birth rate was 61.8, and the pregnancy rate 116.9 per thousand. This decline has manifested across all racial groups,

although teenagers of African-American, Canadian Aboriginal, and Hispanic (especially Mexican) descent retain a higher rate, in comparison to that of Anglo-Americans and Asian-Americans. The Guttmacher Institute attributed about 25% of the decline to abstinence and 75% to the effective use of contraceptives. Statistical studies done recently in North America regarding teen pregnancy have involved collecting data on ethnicity, location, and the age and role of the father. Findings show that Missouri and Mississippi have the highest teen pregnancy rates in the U.S., while Massachusetts has the lowest. An inverse correlation has been noted between teen pregnancy rates and the quality of education in a state. A positive correlation, albeit weak, appears between a city's teen pregnancy rate and its average summer night temperature, especially in the Southern U.S. (Savageau, compiler, 1993-1995). Throughout the U.S., statistical studies show that the average age of the father of a child is inversely related to the age of the mother, if the mother is less than 16 years of age. [Formula: m < 16 > 1 / fo < m , where m = mother's age and f = father's age.] This proportionality is less pronounced in Hispanic populations of the U.S., and in Canada, than it is in the U.S. general population. This explains the common observation that groups and support networks for teen fathers typically contain a greater proportion of Hispanics than do similar groups for teen mothers. The number of births in the U.S. in which the father is younger than 18 and the mother is older is a small percent, and when the father's age is lower than 16, the above equation is reversed. As the age of the father decreases below 16, the average age of the mother decreases as well, although this decrease is low in absolute-value of slope. The Canadian rate in 1998 was 20.2 per 1000. The courts of Canada can legally give judicial marriage consent if the ages of both partners exceed 14, and in the case of pregnancy this consent is often granted. Two American states, Kansas and Georgia, until recently had laws allowing unlimited age of marriage in the case of pregnancy, but these laws are in the process of amendment after three legal cases. (Lisa Clark; Nebraska marriage age evasion cases)

Oceania In 1998, Australia had a teenage birth rate of 18.4 per 1000, with only 9% married at the time of birth. New Zealand, with teenage birth rate of 29.8 per 1000, has one of the highest in the industrialized world. The rate of adolescent pregnancy is much higher among members of the Mori community at 74 births per 1000 young women. Information on sexual behaviour in the Pacific Islands is scarce. However, teen pregnancy is considered an emerging problem. In some Pacific island nations, more than 10% of the total births are among teenage mothers.

Causes of teenage pregnancy Adolescents may lack knowledge of, or access to, conventional methods of preventing pregnancy, perhaps because they're too embarrassed to seek it. In other cases, contraception is used, but proves to be inadequate. Inexperienced adolescents may use condoms incorrectly or forget to take oral contraceptives. Contraceptive failure rates are higher for teenagers, particularly poor ones, than for older users. Longer term methods such as injections, subcutaneous implants, the vaginal ring, or intrauterine devices last from a month to years and may prevent pregnancy more effectively in women who have trouble following routines, including many young women. The use of more than one contraceptive measure decreases the risk of unplanned pregnancy, and if one is a condom barrier method, the transmission of sexually transmitted disease is also reduced. According to information available from the Guttmacher Institute, sex by age 20 is the norm across the world. Most teenagers seek love and intimacy in sexual relationships and, in the US, report that they do not feel pressured to have sex by partners or peers. However, inhibition-reducing drugs and alcohol may encourage unintended sexual activity, and rape is also a factor in a minority of teen pregnancies. Poverty is associated with increased rates of teenage pregnancy. [9] A girl is also more likely to become a teenage parent if her mother or older sister gave birth in her teens. According to Jill Francis, of the National Children's Bureau, "There are four main reasons why girls in Britain become pregnant. We dont give children enough information; we give them mixed messages about sex and relationships; social deprivation means girls are more likely to become pregnant; and girls whose mothers were teenage mums are more likely to do the same". Laurence Shaw, a U.K. fertility specialist, has suggested that, despite the social stigma attached to teenage pregnancy, it is a natural biological adaptation to begin reproducing during the peak fertile period of the late teens and early twenties. This is the period of time when the fecundity rate (a measure of fertility) is highest, nearing 30%. There is little evidence to support the common belief that teenage mothers become pregnant to get benefits and council housing. Most knew little about housing or financial aid before they got pregnant and what they thought they knew often turned out to be wrong. In some societies, early marriage and traditional gender roles are important factors in the incidence of teenage pregnancy.

Public opinion Opinion polls have also attempted to determine what some of the root causes of teenage pregnancy might be: Peer pressure: 76% of girls and 58% of boys in a 1996 Seventeen magazine survey reported that teenage females had sexual intercourse in response to their boyfriend's desire for it. A 2003 Kaiser Family Foundation poll found that one in three young men aged 15-17 said they had felt pressure from male friends to have sex. Contraceptive use: In a 1996 Kaiser Family Foundation study, 46% of adolescents surveyed said that they believed teenage pregnancy resulted from the failure to keep contraception at the ready. 23% of sexually active young women the 1996 Seventeen magazine poll admitted to having had unprotected sex with a partner who eschewed the use of a condom. 70% of girls in a 1997 PARADE poll claimed it was embarrassing to buy birth control or request information from a doctor. Parental relationship: 66% of girls in the 1997 PARADE survey said that the likelihood becoming pregnant as a teen increased if one had parents who were inattentive, unloving, or failed to instill moral values. A majority of respondents in a 1988 Joint Center for Political and Economic Studies survey attributed the occurrence of adolescent pregnancy to a breakdown of communication between parents and child and also to inadequate parental supervision. Mass media: In the 1997 PARADE survey, 57% replied that sexualized content in film, 55% in television, and 44% in music helped to influence teenagers to engage in sexual activity before they are ready. A 1996 U.S. News & World Report poll, which asked about how television programs might contribute to the incidence of teenage pregnancy, found that 46% thought TV played a large role, 30% that it had some effect, 14% that it had little effect, 9% that it had none. 36% in the 1997 PARADE survey said they believed that an adolescent might become pregnant to satisfy a desire for unconditional love. 24% said they believed that a girl might also become pregnant in an attempt to retain or win back a boyfriend.

Limiting teenage pregnancies Many health educators have argued that comprehensive sex education would effectively reduce the number of teenage pregnancies, although opponents argue that such education encourages more and earlier sexual activity. In the UK, the teenage pregnancy strategy, which was run first by the Department of Health and is now based out of the Children, Young People and Families directorate in the Department for Education and Skills, works on several levels to reduce teenage pregnancy and increase the social inclusion of teenage mothers and their families by:

joined up action, making sure branches of government and health and education services work together effectively; prevention of teenage pregnancy through better sex education and improving contraceptive and advice services for young people, involving young people in service design, supporting the parents of teenagers to talk to them about sex and relationships, and targeting high-risk groups; better support for teenage mothers, including help returning to education, advice and support, work with young fathers, better childcare and increasing the availability of supported housing.

The teenage pregnancy strategy has had mixed success. Although teenage pregnancies have fallen overall, they have not fallen consistently in every region, and in some areas they have increased. There are questions about whether the 2010 target of a 50% reduction on 1998 levels can be met. In the United States the topic of sex education is the subject of much contentious debate. Some schools provide "abstinence-only" education and virginity pledges are increasingly popular. Most public schools offer abstinence-plus programs that support abstinence but also offer advice about contraception. A team of researchers and educators in California have published a list of "best practices" in the prevention of teen pregnancy, which includes, in addition to the previously mentioned concepts, working to "instill a belief in a successful future", male involvement in the prevention process, and designing interventions that are culturally relevant. The Dutch approach to preventing teenage pregnancy has often been seen as a model by other countries. The curriculum focuses on values, attitudes, communication and negotiation skills, as well as biological aspects of reproduction. The media has encouraged open dialogue and the health-care system guarantees confidentiality and a non-judgmental approach. In the developing world, programs of reproductive health aimed at teenagers are often small scale and not centrally coordinated, although some countries such as Indonesia and Sri Lanka have a systematic policy framework for teaching about sex within schools. Non-governmental agencies such as the International Planned Parenthood Federation provide contraceptive advice for young women worldwide. Laws against child marriage have reduced but not eliminated the practice. Improved female literacy and educational prospects have led to an increase in the age at first birth in areas such as Iran, Indonesia, and the Indian state of Kerala.

Impact of adolescent pregnancy and parenthood Several studies have examined the socioeconomic, medical, and psychological impact of pregnancy and parenthood in teens. Life outcomes for teenage mothers and their children vary; other factors, such as poverty or social support, may be more important than the age of the

mother at the birth. Many solutions to counteract the more negative findings have been proposed. Teenage parents can use family and community support, social services and child-care support to continue their education and get higher paying jobs as they progress with their education.

Medical outcomes Maternal and perinatal health is of particular concern among teens who are pregnant or parenting. The worldwide incidence of premature birth and low birth weight is higher among adolescent mothers. Research indicates that pregnant teens are less likely to receive prenatal care, often seeking it in the third trimester, if at all. The Guttmacher Institute reports that one-third of pregnant teens receive insufficient prenatal care and that their children are more likely to suffer from health issues in childhood or be hospitalized than those born to older women. Many pregnant teens are subject to nutritional deficiencies from poor eating habits common in adolescence, including attempts to lose weight through dieting, skipping meals, food faddism, snacking, and consumption of fast food. Inadequate nutrition during pregnancy is an even more marked problem among teenagers in developing countries. Complications of pregnancy result in the deaths of an estimated 70,000 teen girls in developing countries each year. Young mothers and their babies are also at greater risk of contracting HIV. Risks for medical complications are greater for girls 14 years of age and younger, as an underdeveloped pelvis can lead to difficulties in childbirth. Obstructed labour is normally dealt with by Caesarean section in industrialized nations; however, in developing regions where medical services might be unavailable, it can lead to eclampsia, obstetric fistula, infant mortality, or maternal death. For mothers in their late teens, age in itself is not a risk factor, and poor outcomes are associated more with socioeconomic factors rather than with biology.

Socioeconomic and psychological outcomes Being a young mother can affect one's education. Teen mothers are more likely to drop out of high school. One study in 2001 found that women who gave birth during their teens completed secondary-level schooling 1012% as often and pursued post-secondary education 14-29% as often as women who waited until age 30. Young motherhood can affect employment and social class. The correlation between earlier childbearing and failure to complete high school reduces career opportunities for many young women. One study found that, in 1988, 60% of teenage mothers were impoverished at the time of giving birth. Additional research found that nearly 50% of all

adolescent mothers sought social assistance within the first five years of their child's life. A study of 100 teenaged mothers in the United Kingdom found that only 11% received a salary while the remaining 89% were unemployed. Most British teenage mothers live in poverty, with nearly half in the bottom fifth of the income distribution. One-fourth of adolescent mothers will have a second child within 24 months of the first. Factors that determine which are more likely to have a closely-spaced repeat birth include marriage and education: the likelihood decreases with the level of education of the young woman or her parents and increases if she gets married . Early motherhood can affect the psychosocial development of the infant. The occurrence of developmental disabilities and behavioral issues is increased in children born to teen mothers. One study suggested that adolescent mothers are less likely to stimulate their infant through affectionate behaviors such as touch, smiling, and verbal communication, or to be sensitive and accepting toward his or her needs. Another found that those who had more social support were less likely to show anger toward their children or to rely upon punishment. Poor academic performance in the children of teenage mothers has also been noted, with many of them being more likely than average to fail to graduate from secondary school, be held back a grade level, or score lower on standardized tests. Daughters born to adolescent parents are more likely to become teen mothers themselves. A son born to a young woman in her teens is three times more likely to serve time in prison. Teen pregnancy and motherhood can have an influence upon younger siblings. One study found that the little sisters of teen mothers were less likely to place emphasis on the importance of education and employment and more likely to accept sexual initiation, parenthood, and marriage at younger ages; little brothers, too, were found to be more tolerant of nonmarital and early births, in addition to being more susceptible to high-risk behaviors. An additional study discovered that those with an older sibling who is a teen parent often end up babysitting their nieces and nephews and that young girls placed in such a situation have an increased risk of getting pregnant themselves.

Teenage fatherhood Teenage fatherhood can also be a challenge. Many feel obliged to support their child, but due to the low levels of state benefits awarded to such couples, in addition to the low quantity of money that they often earn due to their age, are unable to do so fully. Another addition is that being a teenage father is sometimes looked down upon by society and peers.

Teenage pregnancy in popular culture

Teenage pregnancy is referred or alluded to in many songs, including Baby Mama (soul), There Goes My Life (country), In The Ghetto (rockand-roll), Brenda's Got a Baby (rap) Papa Don't Preach and 1985 (song) (pop).

References Mayor, Susan. (May 15, 2004). "Pregnancy and childbirth are leading causes of death in teenage girls in developing countries." British Medical Journal, 328 (7449), 1152. Treffers, P.E. (November 22, 2003). Teenage pregnancy, a worldwide problem. Nederlands tijdschrift voor geneeskunde, 147(47), 2320-5. Locoh, Therese. (2000). "Early Marriage And Motherhood In SubSaharan Africa." WIN News. Mehta, Suman, Groenen, Riet, & Roque, Francisco. United Nations Social and Economic Commission for Asia and the Pacific. (1998). Adolescents in Changing Times: Issues and Perspectives for Adolescent Reproductive Health in The ESCAP Region. UNICEF. (2001). A League Table of Teenage Births in Rich Nations. Wind, Rebecca. The Guttmacher Institute. (February 19, 2004). "U.S. Teenage Pregnancy Rate Drops For 10th Straight Year." Slater, Jon. (2000). "Britain: Sex Education Under Fire." The UNESCO Courier. Retrieved July 7, 2006. The National Campaign to Prevent Teen Pregnancy. (1997). What the Polling Data Tell Us: A Summary of Past Surveys on Teen Pregnancy. Besharov, Douglas J. & Gardiner, Karen N. (1997). Trends in Teen Sexual Behavior. Children and Youth Services Review, 19 (5/6), 341-67. Guttmacher Institute. (2005). Sex and Relationships. East, P.L., & Jacobson, L.J. (2001). The younger siblings of teenage mothers: a follow-up of their pregnancy risk. Developmental Psychology, 37 (2), 254-64. Retrieved May 27, 2006. Furstenberg, F.F., Jr, Levine, J.A., & Brooks-Gunn, J. (1990). The children of teenage mothers: patterns of early childbearing in two generations Lessware, Jonathan. (June 19, 2006). Pregnancy in teenage girls 'all part of nature's law'. The Scotsman. [1] Allen, Colin. (May 22, 2003). "Peer Pressure and Teen Sex." Psychology Today. Moncloa, Fe, Johns, Marilyn, Gong, Elizabeth J., Russell, Stephen, Lee, Faye, & West, Estella. (2003). Best Practices in Teen Pregnancy Prevention Practitioner Handbook. Journal of Extension, 41 (2). Valk, Guus. (2000). The Dutch Model. The UNESCO Courier. The National Campaign to Prevent Teen Pregnancy. (2002). Not Just Another Single Issue: Teen Pregnancy Prevention's Link to Other Critical Social Issues. Scholl, T.O., Hediger, M.L., & Belsky, D.H. (1994). Prenatal care and maternal health during adolescent pregnancy: a review and meta-analysis. The Journal of Adolescent Health, 15 (6), 444-56.

Makinson, C. (1985). The health consequences of teenage fertility. Family Planning Perspectives, 17 (3), 132-9. Guttmacher Institute. (1999, September). Teen Sex and Pregnancy. Gutierrez, Y., & King, J.C. (1993). Nutrition during teenage pregnancy. Pediatric Annals, 22 (2), 99-108. Sanchez, P.A., Idrisa, A., Bobzom, D.N., Airede, A., Hollis, B.W., Liston, D.E., Jones, D.D., et al. (1997). Calcium and vitamin D status of pregnant teenagers in Maiduguri, Nigeria. Journal of the National Medical Association, 89 (12), 805-11. Pena, E., Sanchez, A., Solano, L. (2003). Profile of nutritional risk in pregnant adolescents. Archivos Latinoamericanos Nutricion, 53(2), 141-9. Hofferth, Sandra L., Reid, Lori, Mott, & Frank L. (2001). The Effects of Early Childbearing On Schooling over Time. Family Planning Perspectives, 33 (6). Retrieved May 27, 2006. Levine Coley, Rebekah & Chase-Lansdale, Lindsay. (1997). Adolescent Pregnancy and Parenthood: Recent Evidence and Future Directions. American Psychologist. Social Exclusion Unit. (1999). Teenage Pregnancy. [2] Kalmuss, D.S., Namerow, P.B. (1994). Subsequent childbearing among teenage mothers: the determinants of a closely spaced second birth. Family Planning Perspectives, 26 (4),149-53, 159. Retrieved May 27, 2006. American Academy of Pediatrics. (2001). Care of Adolescent Parents and Their Children. Pediatrics, 107 (2), 429-434. Hofferth, Sandra L. & Reid, Lori. (2002). Early Childbearing and Children's Achievement And Behavior over Time. Perspectives on Sexual and Reproductive Health, 34 (1). Crockenberg, S. (1987). Predictors and correlates of anger toward and punitive control of toddlers by adolescent mothers. Child Development, 58 (4), 964-75. Maynard, Rebecca A. (Ed.). (1996). Kids Having Kids. Retrieved May 27, 2006. East, Patricia L. (1996). Do Adolescent Pregnancy and Childbearing Affect Younger Siblings?. Family Planning Perspectives, 28 (4). May 27, 2006. Luker, Kristin. (1996). Dubious Conceptions: The Politics of Teenage Pregnancy. Cambridge, MA: Harvard University Press. ISBN 0-674-21702-0 Organizations Teenage Pregnancy Unit National Campaign to Prevent Teen Pregnancy Family Focus Australia - First Steps Program to support Teenage mothers and their children Articles "Reducing Teenage Pregnancy" by Deborah Weiss "I Want It Now!, or Why Becoming a Parent Should Never be Rushed" by Heather Corinna Congressional Research Service (CRS) Reports regarding Teen Pregnancy

Forums & support sites The Young Mommies Help Site StandUpGirl : young mothers and pregnant teen peer support. Girl-Mom: online community for young mothers. Young Mums To Be: educational program from British teens. YWCA England & Wales: Respect Young Mums

The scales of injustice Miscarriages of justice are an everyday occurence. As the government plans a thorough overhaul of criminal justice, it needs to ask why so many unsafe convictions are overturned. The wrongly convicted are victims too. The Observer Crime and Justice debate Sunday July 28, 2002 The government's criminal justice reforms, proposed in the recently published White Paper, are based on a 'single clear priority' to 'rebalance' the criminal justice system 'in favour of the victims of crime' and to 'bring more offenders to justice'. The explicit goal is to make it easier for the prosecution to secure guilty verdicts and to convict more people. This would seem to be at odds with the reality of criminal justice in England and Wales. The prison population stands at an all time high of over 70 thousand and the prosecution already achieves the conviction of over 95 per cent of defendants at magistrates' courts and 87 per cent of defendants in the Crown Court. The White Paper seems to be to forget that that not all of those brought to trial will be guilty. A reform agenda framed in a language of 'putting the victim first' overlooks the fact that there are many victims of the present criminal justice system. Any human system can make mistakes, and that miscarriages of justice can and do occur. But, just how many miscarriages of justice victims of the present system are there? We tend to think about miscarriages of justice as rare and exceptional occurrences. Prominent cases such as the Birmingham six, Guildford Four, Bridgewater four, M25 three, Cardiff three, Stephen Downing, and so on create the impression that miscarriages of justice are seen as very much an intermittent, high profile and small scale problem; that there are very few victims in the context of the statistics of all criminal convictions. But there are many more cases than those which receive prominent coverage in the media. Those cases of criminal conviction that are routinely quashed by the Court of Appeal (Criminal Division), or by the Crown Court

for convictions previously obtained in the magistrates' court have received no attention at all. If we pay more attention to these routinely quashed convictions, we find a scale of miscarriage of justice to fundamentally challenges any notion that the current system of criminal justice is weighted too much in favour of the defendant. The Lord Chancellor's Department's statistics on successful appeals against criminal conviction show that in the decade 1989-1999 the Court of Appeal (Criminal Division) abated over 8,470 criminal convictions - a yearly average of 770. In addition, there are around 3,500 quashed criminal convictions a year at the Crown Court for convictions obtained at the magistrates' courts. Contrary to popular perceptions, then, wrongful criminal convictions are a normal, everyday feature of the criminal justice system - the system doesn't just sometimes get it wrong, it gets it wrong everyday, of every week, of every month of every year. With the result that thousands of innocent people experience a whole variety of harmful consequences that wrongful criminal convictions engender. Justice for All also states that there is an 'absolute determination to create a system that meets the needs of society', 'wins the trust of citizens' and 'acquits the innocent'. Accordingly, the government might think about proposing reforms that would counter the causes of the thousands of routine wrongful criminal convictions that occur each year under the present criminal justice system. These (still) include misdirection by judges which is the most common cause of routine successful appeals; unreliable confessions such as in the cases of Robert Downing, the Cardiff Newsagent three, Andrew Evans, and King and Waugh who between them spent almost a century of wrongful imprisonment based on the unreliable confessions of the vulnerable. Financial and other incentives which created unreliable 'cell confession evidence' that featured most recently in the case of Reg Dudley and Robert Maynard who each served over 20 years of wrongful imprisonment as a consequence of a 'bargain' between the police and an informant who received a reduced sentence for his part in a robbery in exchange for the necessary evidence for conviction; non-disclosure of vital evidence as in the case of John Kamara who also spent 20 years of wrongful imprisonment because over 200 statements were withheld from his defence team; malicious accusations such as in the case of Roy Burnett who spent 15 years of wrongful imprisonment for a rape that the Court of Appeal said 'almost certainly never happened', or Roger Beardmore who spent three years in prison (of a nine year sentence) for the paedophile rape of a young girl who later admitted that she had lied to get her mother's attention; badly conducted defences such as in the case of Mark Day who was convicted for murder with two others despite the fact that he did not know his co-defendants, a fact that his defence failed to bring to the court's attention; and, 'racism' such as in the case of the M25 three, the case in which three black men were wrongly imprisoned for 10 years despite the fact that witnesses had claimed that two of the offenders were white and four of six victims had referred to at least one of

the offenders as white. And this is by no means exhaustive list of the causes of injustice. When thinking about proposing reforms of the criminal justice system to reduce the conviction of the innocent it might also be pertinent to include some of the possible causes of miscarriages of justice that might never feature in the official statistics of successful appeals. Likely candidates include the 'time loss rule', under which when the wrongly imprisoned apply for an appeal they are advised that if their appeal is ultimately unsuccessful it could result in substantial increases to their sentence. The effect of this is to transform what was intended as a minor check on groundless applications into a major barrier in some meritorious cases. There are also the miscarriages of justice that can result from charge, plea and sentence 'bargaining' and the 'parole deal'. All of these induce innocent people to plead guilty to criminal offences that they have not committed and present a 'dark figure' of miscarriages of justice that can never be fully quantified. It is clear that the present system of criminal justice is, indeed, in urgent need of reform. But this should not be in the direction of a relaxation of the system in favour of obtaining more guilty verdicts and convicting more people. Rather, the present system needs to a reformed in the direction of 're-balancing' it with its stated aims, namely, to safeguard against convicting of the innocent. The present system makes far too many mistakes. Convicting more of those brought to trial will undoubtedly mean making even more mistakes and convicting even more innocent victims. Michael Naughton is a postgraduate researcher looking at the harmful consequences of miscarriages of justice in the Department of Sociology, University of Bristol.

Send us your views Email Observer site editor Sunder Katwala at observer@guardianunlimited.co.uk with comments on articles or ideas for future pieces. You can write to the author of this piece at M.Naughton@Bristol.ac.uk. About Observer Comment Extra The Observer website carries additional online commentary each week, with articles responding to recent pieces and offering additional coverage of the major issues. Please get in touch if you would like to offer a piece and see Observer Comment for this week's pieces. Online commentaries are also trailed in the print pages of the newspaper.

Observer special reports Crime and justice: The Observer debate Let us know your views Write to us at letters@observer.co.uk 28.04.2002: How to offer a piece More comment 28.07.2002: Michael Naughton: the scale of wrongful convictions Children in prison: Observer campaign Justice special: campaign updates 28.07.2002: Barry Goldson: How prison damages children 28.07.2002: Children behind bars: why we back the campaign 14.07.2002: Comment: Scrap this law 14.07.2002: Letters: A welcome campaign for social justice 07.07.2002: Suicide fear for teen victims of Blunkett's get-tough rules 07.07.2002: Our five-point manifesto Get in touch at childrenbehindbars@observer.co.uk Useful links 14.07.2002: Crime and justice on the web More crime and justice comment 21.07.2002: Leader: New thinking on justice at last 21.07.2002: Courtenay Griffiths QC: Counsel for the defence 14.07.2002: Mary Riddell: Addressing the causes 14.07.2002: Martin Bright: time to understand a little more? 14.07.2002: Martin Wright: the case for restorative justice 14.07.2002: Nick Cohen: Dando case injustice 07.07.2002: Wrongly convicted: 'We were victims too' 07.07.2002: Cristina Odone: Cherie has got it right 07.07.2002: Lee Bridges: Smart reform, not populism 30.06.2002: Peter Neyroud: We must make the law work for all 07.07.2002: Louise Dominian: Getting rehabilitation right 23.06.2002: Leader: Be cautious on crime reform 02.06.2002: Mary Riddell: Why Blunkett is dangerous Comment highlights: best of Mary Riddell 02.06.2002: David Rose: Short straw for law 02.06.2002: Martin Bright: Labour's criminal justice confusions Observer investigation 23.06.2002: Focus: Tougher justice 23.06.2002: Criminals go free in legal crisis The Observer prisons debate 05.05.2002: David Rose: prison does work 19.05.2002: Juliet Lyon: Prison must be the last resort 26.05.2002: Nick Cohen: Porridge oafs 03.02.2002: David Blunkett: my prison reform agenda 10.02.2002: Mark Leech: why part-time porridge won't work

More Observer specials Asylum myths and reality Liberty Watch Drugs Uncovered Race in Britain More from Guardian Unlimited Special report: home affairs

LINKS and REFERENCE "Single Parents" PoBronson.com (accessed October 9, 2006) (2005). "Single parenting" CYH.com (accessed October 9, 2006) Bankston, Carl L. and Caldas, Stephen J., Family Structure, Schoolmates, and Racial Inequalities in School Achievement, Journal of Marriage and the Family 60:3 (1998), 715-723. Dependent Children: 1 in 4 in lone-parent families," National Statistics Online, National Statistics, United Kingdom (July 7, 2005) . Accessed at: http://www.statistics.gov.uk/cci/nugget.asp?id=1163 on July 17, 2006. Geographic Distribution: London has most lone-parent families," National Statistics Online, National Statistics, United Kingdom (July 7, 2005). Accessed at: http://www.statistics.gov.uk/cci/nugget.asp?id=1166 on July 17, 2006. Hilton, J., Desrochers, S.,Devall, E. Comparison of Role Demands, Relationships, and Child Functioning is Single-Mother, SingleFather, and Intact Families. Journal of Divorce and Remarriage ,35(?) 29-56. Mulkey, L.; Crain, R; Harrington, A.M. One-Parent Households and Achievement: Economic and Behavioral Explanations of a Small Effect. Sociology of Education, 1992, 65, 1, Jan, 48-65 Pong, Suet-ling The School Compositional Effect of Single Parenthood on 10th Grade Achievement, Sociology of Education 71:1 (1998), 23-42. Quinlan, Robert J. Father absence, parental care, and female reproductive development. Evolution and Human Behavior, Volume 24, Issue 6, November 2003, Pages 376-390 Richards, Leslie N.; Schmiege, Cynthia J. Family Relations, Vol. 42, No. 3, Family Diversity. (Jul., 1993), pp. 277-285. Risman, Barbara J., and Park, Kyung. (1988). Just The Two of Us: Parent-Child Relationships in Single-Parent Homes. Journal of Marriage and the Family, 1988, 50, 4, Nov, 1049. Sacks, G. (September 4, 2005) Boys without fathers is not a logical new idea. Arkansas Democrat-Gazette (Little Rock, Arkansas)

States News Service. (2005 July 20). Americas Children: Family Structure and Childrens Well -Being *Quotes taken from Neale B and Wade A (2000) 'Parent problems! Children's views on life when parents split up', Young Voice/Nuffield. http://www.news.cornell.edu/Chronicle/04/5.13.04/single_parents. html http://www.census.gov/prod/2003pubs/p60-225.pdf http://www.fathers-4-justice.org/index_2.htm http://www.cyh.com/HealthTopics/HealthTopicDetails http://www.pobronson.com/factbook/pages/43.html http://www.hansm.org http://www.oneparentfamilies.org.uk/facts http://www.javilonesomefather.org.uk

NATIONAL COUNCIL FOR ONE PARENT FAMILIES Registered charity no: 230750 Email web@oneparentfamilies.org.uk.

In the news This is a list of the most recent items found in the national press concerning single parents. Please use the Message Board if you want to comment on a news item. Britain must target child poverty (29.Sep.2006) Family-income poverty doesn't only affect children's educational achievements (Response, September 26), and thus their opportunities and choices in the labour market, but also their future health and its associated costs. Poverty at home leads to inequality in the classroom (26.Sep.2006) Improving schools is vital - but the issue of family income can't be avoided, Vulnerable families need support, not blame (25.Sep.2006) The proposal to provide early support for vulnerable families through health visitors is welcome, but the suggestion that they predict which parents are at risk of bringing up children who will be offenders is dangerous. Ruling the roost (20.Sep.2006)

The Incredible Years parenting programme is being held up by ministers as a model of good practice Family tradition (13.Sep.2006) The chief executive of children's charity NCH welcomes the government's latest plans for vulnerable children but tells Alison Benjamin that removing benefits as a method of coercion for problem parents will not work Alan Johnson's speech (13.Sep.2006) Full text of the education secretary's speech to the Social Market Foundation Should cookery lessons be compulsory? (10.Sep.2006) From 2008, cookery classes will be offered to all secondary schoolchildren What hard-pressed parents really need in the way of help (06.Sep.2006) By Sue Cohen, director of Single Parent Action Network The Prime Minister might be retreating from the controversy of last week's "baby Asbos" speech, but labelling and stigma still seem to be the order of the day. Action at birth needed to save problem children, insists Blair (06.Sep.2006) PM defends plan to help young in troubled homes More cash promised to aid socially excluded Antisocial approach to children (04.Sep.2006) Behind Tony Blair's plans to support early intervention in the lives of "problem children" because they might become a "menace to society" Disclaimer Some of the views expressed on this website are those of individual contributors and do not necessarily represent the views of SN. All content is for general information only and is not intended to replace professional advice of any kind. SN is not responsible or liable for any actions taken by a user of this site. SN is not liable for the contents of any external sites listed, nor does it endorse any advice, products or services mentioned on these sites.

HUMANS:

Aftab Ahmed AIDS - HIV Anorexia Assault Babies Bladder Blood

Intelligence IVF Artificial Fertilisation Joints Justice Kidneys Liver Love

Bones Brain Bullying Cancer Carpal Tunnel Syndrome Child Abuse David Watkins Death Depression Diet Digestion Disease Divorce DNA Drugs Dysfunctional Families Euthanasia Exercise Fantasies - Schoolgirl Gestation Hair Hate Hearing Heart Humans

Lungs Marriage Memory Muscles Motherhood Nails OCD Compulsive Obsessive Obesity Personality - Disorders Psychology Racism Rape Reproduction Sex Education Sight Single Parents Sleep Smell Skeleton Skin Stress Suicide Teenage Pregnancy Veins

OTHER ANIMALS:
AMPHIBIANS ANNELIDS ANTHROPOLOGY ARACHNIDS ARTHROPODS BIRDS CETACEANS CRUSTACEANS DINOSAURS ECHINODERMS FISH HUMANS - MAN INSECTS LIFE ON EARTH MAMMALS MARSUPIALS MOLLUSKS

Such as frogs (class: Amphibia) As in Earthworms (phyla: Annelida) Neanderthals, Homo Erectus (Extinct) Spiders (class: Arachnida) Crabs, spiders, insects (phyla: Arthropoda) Such as Eagles, Albatross (class: Aves) such as Whales & Dolphins ( order:Cetacea) such as crabs (subphyla: Crustacea) Tyranosaurus Rex, Brontosaurus (Extinct) As in Starfish (phyla: Echinodermata) Sharks, Tuna (group: Pisces) Homo Sapiens Which includes
THE BRAIN

Ants, (subphyla: Uniramia class: Insecta)

PLANTS

non- animal life

Warm blooded animals (class: Mammalia) Such as Kangaroos (order: Marsupialia) Such as octopus (phyla: Mollusca)

PLANTS PRIMATES REPTILES RODENTS SIMPLE LIFE FORMS

Trees Gorillas, Chimpanzees (order: Primates) As in Crocodiles, Snakes (class: Reptilia) such as Rats, Mice (order: Rodentia) As in Amoeba, plankton (phyla: protozoa)

A taste for adventure capitalists

http://solarnavigator.net/animal_kingdom/humans/teenage_pregnancy.htm

Teen Pregnancy Overview

Teen pregnancy is an important issue. There are health risks for the baby and children born to teenage mothers are more likely to suffer health, social, and emotional problems than children born to older mothers. Also, women who become pregnant during their teens are at increased risk for complications, such as premature labor and other consequences. Teen pregnancy rates in the United States fell 40 percent from 1990 to 2008to their lowest level since 1976. The decline in the teen pregnancy rates was consistent during this time period, except for increases in 2005 and 2006. In teenage girls aged 15 to 17, the pregnancy rate has declined by almost 50 percent since 1990, and the rate in older teens decreased by about 33 percent. Recent studies have shown that teen pregnancies are continuing to decline; however, pregnancy rates for African American teens and Hispanic teens are two to three times higher than in Caucasian teens. In April 2013, the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) reported that nearly one in five teen births is a repeat birthmeaning that it's at least the second birth for the teenage mother. Although the repeat teen birth rate in the United States declined by more than 6 percent between 2007 and 2010, it remains highespecially in American Indian/Alaskan Natives (21.6 percent), Hispanics (20.9 percent), and non-Hispanic African Americans (20.4 percent). In Caucasian teens, the repeat birth rate is 14.8 percent.

Studies show that although most teen parents who are sexually active use contraception during the postpartum period, only about 22 percent use "most effective" birth control (> 99 percent effective). Babies born as result of a repeat teen pregnancy are even more likely to be born prematureearly and at a low birth weight. Declining teen pregnancy rates are thought to be attributed to more effective birth control practice, newer methods of birth control (e.g., long-acting, reversible contraception), and decreased sexual activity among teens.

Still, teenage pregnancy rates remain high and approximately 1 million teenage girls become pregnant each year in the United States and about 13 percent of U.S. births involve teen mothers. To lower teen pregnancy rates, older children must be educated about sex and sexuality and about the consequences of pregnancy.

Consequences of Teen Pregnancy

Teenage births are associated with lower annual income for the mother. Eighty percent of teen mothers must rely on welfare at some point. Teenage mothers are more likely to drop out of school. Only about one-third of teen mothers obtain a high school diploma. Teenage pregnancies are associated with increased rates of alcohol abuse and substance abuse, lower educational level, and reduced earning potential in teen fathers. In the United States, the annual cost of teen pregnancies from lost tax revenues, public assistance, child health care, foster care and involvement with the criminal justice system is estimated to be about $7 billion.

Publication Review By: Stanley J. Swierzewski, III, M.D. Published: 31 Oct 2000 Last Modified: 04 Apr 2013

Teen Pregnancy
By Robin Elise Weiss, LCCE, About.com Guide
See More About:

birth control abortion single parenting

Teen pregnancy is a problem on many levels.

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Teen Pregnancy Help Preventing Pregnancy Free Pregnancy Tests Pregnancy Facts Teenage Pregnancy

Despite the fact that the teen birth rate is climbing after slowly falling for years, there are still an estimated one million teen pregnancies in the United States alone. About 85% of these pregnancies are unplanned, which in any population can increase the risk for problems. The biggest risk for teen mothers is delaying prenatal care or worse, 7.2% received no care at all.
The reason for lack of prenatal care is usually delayed pregnancy testing, denial or even fear of telling others about the pregnancy. Most states have a health department or university clinic where prenatal care is free or low cost and patient confidentiality is very important, meaning no one can tell the teen mother's family.

Because the body of a teen is still growing she will need more nutritional support to meet both her needs and that of her baby. Nutritional counseling can be a large portion of prenatal care, usually done by a doctor or a midwife, sometimes a nutritionist. This counseling will usually include information about prenatal vitamins, folic acid, and the dos and don'ts of eating and drinking. Lack of proper nutrition can lead to problems like anemia (low iron), low weight gain, etc. Another problem facing teen mothers is the use of drugs and alcohol, including cigarette smoking. No amount of any of these substances is safe for use in pregnancy. In fact, their use can complicate pregnancy even further increasing the likelihood of premature birth and other complications. Premature birth and low birth weight create a wealth of their own problems, including brain damage, physical disabilities and more. The potentially lengthy hospital stay and increased risk of health problems for these babies leads to more stress on the teen mother. While facing the grim realities of teen pregnancy is not pleasant, this is not the picture that has to be painted. Teen mothers are perfectly capable of having a healthy pregnancy and a healthy baby. With the proper nutrition, early prenatal care and good screening for potential problems the majority of these potential problems will not come to light. While some tend to think that you can't teach a teen mother anything about her body or baby, it's really a ridiculous notion. Many of the teen mothers who take active roles in their care do go on to have healthy babies, despite the other hardships that they will face in their lives. Support from the families and communities is a must for the young, new family to be successful.
Source: Teenage Pregnancy. March of Dimes. November 2009.

Prevalence of teenage pregnancy

From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia (Redirected from Epidemiology of teenage pregnancy) Jump to: navigation, search

Teenage birth rate per 1,000 women aged 1519, 20002009[1]

Industrialized and developing countries have distinctly different rates of teenage pregnancy. In developed regions, such as North America and Western Europe, teen parents tend to be unmarried and adolescent pregnancy is seen as a social issue. By contrast, teenage parents in developing countries are often married, and their pregnancy may be welcomed by family and society. However, in these societies, early pregnancy may combine with malnutrition and poor health care to cause medical problems. A report by Save the Children found that, annually, 13 million children are born to women under age 20 worldwide. More than 90% of these births occur to women living in developing countries. Complications of pregnancy and childbirth are the leading cause of mortality among women between the ages of 15 and 19 in such areas, as they are the leading cause of mortality among older women. The age of the mother is determined by the easily verified date when the pregnancy ends, not by the estimated date of conception.[2] Consequently, the statistics do not include women who first became pregnant before their 20th birthdays, if those pregnancies did not end until on or after their 20th birthdays.[2]

Contents
[hide]

1 Rates by continent o 1.1 Africa o 1.2 Asia o 1.3 Europe 1.3.1 Netherlands 1.3.2 Mediterranean countries 1.3.3 Nordic countries 1.3.4 United Kingdom 1.3.5 Eastern Europe o 1.4 North America

1.4.1 Canada 1.4.2 United States

2 Statistics o 2.1 UN Statistics Division, live births 2000-2009 o 2.2 UN Statistics Division, estimates 1995-2010 o 2.3 Birth and abortion rates, 1996 3 See also 4 References

Rates by continent[edit]
Africa[edit]
The highest rate of teenage pregnancy in the world 143 per 1,000 girls aged 1519 years is in sub-Saharan Africa.[3] Women in Africa, in general, get married at much earlier ages than women elsewhere leading to earlier pregnancies. In Nigeria, according to the Health and Demographic Survey in 1992, 47% of women aged 2024 were married before 15 and 87% before 18. 53% of those surveyed also had given birth to a child before the age of 18.[4] Teenage birth rates in African countries (2002):[5] A Save the Children report identified 10 countries where motherhood carried the most risks for young women and their babies. Of these, 9 were in sub-Saharan Africa, and Niger, Liberia, and Mali were the nations where girls were the most at-risk. In the 10 highest-risk nations, more than one in six teenage girls between the ages of 15 to 19 gave birth annually, and nearly one in seven babies born to these teenagers died before the age of one year.[6]

Asia[edit]
In the Indian subcontinent, premarital sex is uncommon, but early marriage sometimes means adolescent pregnancy. The rate of early marriage is higher in rural regions than it is in urbanized areas. Fertility rates in South Asia range from 71 to 119 births per 1000 women aged 1519. 30% of all Indian induced abortions are performed on women who are under 20. Other parts of Asia have shown a trend towards increasing age at marriage for both sexes. In South Korea and Singapore, marriage before age 20 has all but disappeared, and, although the occurrence of sexual intercourse before marriage has risen, rates of adolescent childbearing are low at 4 to 8 per 1000. The rate of early marriage and pregnancy has decreased sharply in Indonesia and Malaysia; however, it remains high in comparison to the rest of Asia.[citation needed] Surveys from Thailand have found that a significant minority of unmarried adolescents are sexually active. Although premarital sex is considered normal behavior for males, particularly with prostitutes, it is not always regarded as such for females. Most Thai youth reported that their first sexual experience, whether within or outside of marriage, was without contraception. The adolescent fertility rate in Thailand is relatively high at 60 per 1000. 25% of women admitted to

hospitals in Thailand for complications of induced abortion are students. The Thai government has undertaken measures to inform the nation's youth about the prevention of sexually transmitted diseases and unplanned pregnancy. According to the World Health Organization, in several Asian countries including Bangladesh and Indonesia, a large proportion (26-37%) of deaths among female adolescents can be attributed to maternal causes.[7]

Europe[edit]
The overall trend in Europe since 1970 has been a decrease in the total fertility rate, an increase in the age at which women experience their first birth, and a decrease in the number of births among teenagers. However, in the past, teenage mothers in Europe tended to be married, and therefore were less likely to be perceived as a social issue. Some countries, such as Greece and Poland, retain a traditional model of births to married mothers in their late teens. The rates of teenage pregnancy may vary widely within a country. For instance, in the United Kingdom, the rate of adolescent pregnancy in 2002 was as high as 100.4 per 1000 among young women living in the London Borough of Lambeth, and as low as 20.2 per 1000 among residents in the Midlands local authority area of Rutland. In Italy, the teenage birth rate in central regions is only 3.3 per 1,000, but, in the Mezzogiorno it is 10.0 per 1000. Teenage birth is often associated with economic and social issues: such as alcohol and drug misuse and, across 13 nations in the European Union, women who gave birth as teenagers were twice as likely to be living in poverty, compared to those who first gave birth when they were over 20.[8]
Netherlands[edit]

The Netherlands has a low rate of births and abortions among teenagers (5 births per 1,000 women aged 1519 in 2002[5]). Compared to countries with higher teenage birth rates, the Dutch have a higher average age at first intercourse and increased levels of contraceptive use (including the "double Dutch" method of using both a hormonal contraception method and a condom[citation needed] ).
Mediterranean countries[edit]

In some countries, such as Italy and Spain, the low rate of adolescent pregnancy (6 births per 1,000 women aged 1519 in 2002 in both countries)[5] may be attributed to traditional values[citation needed] and social stigmatization.[citation needed] These two countries also have low abortion rates (lower than Sweden and the other Nordic countries)[9] and their teenage pregnancy rates are among the lowest in Europe. Portugal, however, has a relatively high percentage of teenage pregnancy (17 births per 1,000 women aged 1519 in 2002).[5]

Nordic countries[edit]

Nordic countries, such as Denmark and Sweden, also have low rates of teenage birth (both have 7 births per 1,000 women aged 1519 in 2002[5]). However, Norway's birth rate is slightly higher (11 births per 1,000 women aged 1519 in 2002[5]) and Iceland has a birth rate of 19 per 1,000 women aged 1519 [5] (nearly the same as the UK). These countries have higher abortion rates than the Netherlands.
United Kingdom[edit] Main article: Teenage pregnancy and sexual health in the United Kingdom

The U.K. has one of the highest teenage birth rates in Europe with a rate of 26.4 teenage births per 1,000 women aged 1519 in 2006, down from 27.9 births in 2001.[10] The U.K. also has a higher rate of abortion than most European countries. Of young Britans reported engaging in sexual intercourse whilst in their teens, 80% said they did not use a form of contraception, although a half of those under 16, and one-third of those between 16 to 19, said they did not use a form of contraception during their first encounter. 10% of British teen mothers are married.[11] Adolescent pregnancy is viewed as a matter of concern by both the British government and the British press.
Eastern Europe[edit]

Romania and Bulgaria have some of the highest teenage birth rates in Europe with a rate of 39.3 and 46.7 teenage births per 1,000 women respectively.[9] Both countries also have very large Romani populations, who have an occurrence of teenage pregnancies well above the local average.[12][13][14]

North America[edit]
Canada[edit]

The Canadian teenage birth rate in 2002 was 16 per 1000 [5] and the teenage pregnancy rate was 33.9. According to data from Statistics Canada, the Canadian teenage pregnancy rate has trended towards a steady decline for both younger (15-17) and older (18-19) teens in the period between 1992-2002.[15] Canada's highest teen pregnancy rates occur in small towns located in rural parts of peninsular Ontario. Alberta and Quebec have high teen pregnancy rates as well.
United States[edit] See also: Adolescent sexuality in the United States

In 2010, the teenage birth rate in the United States reached a historic low: 34.3 births per 1,000 women aged 1519.[16] The U.S. teen birth rate was 53 births per 1,000 women aged 1519 in 2002,[5] the highest in the developed world.[8] If all pregnancies, including those that end in abortion or miscarriage, are taken into account, the total rate in 2000 was 75.4 pregnancies per 1,000 girls. Nevada and the

District of Columbia have the highest teen pregnancy rates in the U.S., while North Dakota has the lowest.[17] Over 80% of teenage pregnancies in the U.S. are unintended;[18] approximately one third end in abortion, one third end in spontaneous miscarriage, and one third will continue their pregnancy and keep their baby.[19] However, the trend is decreasing: in 1990, the birth rate was 61.8, and the pregnancy rate 116.9 per thousand. This decline has manifested across all racial groups, although teenagers of AfricanAmerican and Hispanic descent retain a higher rate, in comparison to that of EuropeanAmericans and Asian-Americans. The Guttmacher Institute attributed about 25% of the decline to abstinence and 75% to the effective use of contraceptives.[17] Within the United States teen pregnancy is often brought up in political discourse. The goal to limit teen pregnancy is shared by Republicans and Democrats, though avenues of reduction are usually different. Many Democrats cite teen pregnancy as proof of the continuing need for access to birth control and sexual education, while Republicans often cite a need for returning to conservative values, often including abstinence. An inverse correlation has been noted between teen pregnancy rates and the quality of education in a state. A positive correlation, albeit weak, appears between a city's teen pregnancy rate and its average summer night temperature, especially in the Southern U.S. (Savageau, compiler, 1993 1995).

Statistics[edit]
UN Statistics Division, live births 2000-2009[edit]
Per 1,000 women 1519 years old, source:[1]
[show]Country Teenage birth rate
per 1000 women 1519

Year

[show]Country

Teenage birth rate

per 1000 women 1519

Year

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Teenage birth rate

per 1000 women 1519

Year

[show]Country

Teenage birth rate

per 1000 women 1519

Year

[show]Country

Teenage birth rate

per 1000 women 1519

Year

[show]Country

Teenage birth rate

per 1000 women 1519

Year

UN Statistics Division, estimates 1995-2010[edit]

Per 1,000 women 1519 years old, source:[20]

[show]Country 19952000 20002005 20052010

[show]Country 19952000 20002005 20052010

[show]Country 19952000 20002005 20052010

[show]Country 19952000 20002005 20052010

[show]Country 19952000 20002005 20052010

[show]Country 19952000 20002005 20052010

[show]Country 19952000 20002005 20052010

[show]Country 19952000 20002005 20052010

[show]Country 19952000 20002005 20052010

[show]Country 19952000 20002005 20052010

[show]Country 19952000 20002005 20052010

Birth and abortion rates, 1996[edit]

Per 1000 women 1519, (%aborted = %of teenage pregnancies ending in abortion ) source:[9][21][22][23][24]
Country Netherlands Spain Italy Greece Belgium Germany Finland Ireland France birth rate abortion rate combined rate % aborted 7.7 7.5 6.6 12.2 9.9 13.0 9.8 16.7 9.4 3.9 4.9 6.7 1.3 5.2 5.3 9.6 4.6 13.2 11.6 12.4 13.3 13.5 15.1 18.3 19.4 21.3 22.6 33.6 39.5 50.4 9.6 34.4 28.9 49.5 21.6 58.4

Country Denmark Sweden Norway

birth rate abortion rate combined rate % aborted 8.2 7.7 13.6 15.4 17.7 18.3 12.4 20.6 13.1 23.9 22.1 14.3 21.3 22.5 30.2 37.9 30.2 23.6 25.4 31.9 32.5 42.1 43.6 44 44.4 46.3 50.9 55.9 60.1 77.9 85.8 65.3 69.7 57.4 38.2 48.9 30 54.3 49.8 30.9 41.8 40.3 50.2 48.7 35.2

Czech Republic 20.1 Iceland Slovakia Australia Canada Israel 21.5 30.5 20.1 22.3 32.0

United Kingdom 29.6 New Zealand Hungary Romania United States 33.4 29.9 40.0 55.6

See also[edit]

Adolescent sexuality in the United States Teenage pregnancy and sexual health in the United Kingdom

References[edit]
1. ^ a b Live births by age of mother and sex of child, general and age-specific fertility rates: latest available year, 20002009 United Nations Statistics Division Demographic and Social Statistics 2. ^ a b Kost K, Henshaw S and Carlin L, (2010). U.S. Teenage Pregnancies, Births and Abortions: National and State Trends and Trends by Race and Ethnicity. "Pregnancies are the sum of births,

3. 4. 5. 6. 7.

8. 9. 10. 11. 12. 13. 14. 15.

16.

17. 18. 19. 20.

21.

22. 23. 24.

abortions and miscarriages. Please note that in these tables, age refers to the womans age when the pregnancy ended. Consequently, actual numbers of pregnancies that occurred among teenagers are higher than those reported here, because most of the women who conceived at age 19 had their births or abortions after they turned 20 and, thus, were not counted as teenagers." ^ Treffers, P.E. (November 22, 2003). Teenage pregnancy, a worldwide problem. Nederlands tijdschrift voor geneeskunde, 147(47), 2320-5. Retrieved July 7, 2006. ^ Locoh, Therese. (2000). "Early Marriage And Motherhood In Sub-Saharan Africa." WIN News. Retrieved July 7, 2006. ^ a b c d e f g h i Indicator: Births per 1000 women (15-19 ys) 2002 UNFPA, State of World Population 2003, Retrieved Jan 22, 2007. ^ Pregnancy and childbirth are leading causes of death in teenage girls in developing countries ^ Mehta, Suman, Groenen, Riet, & Roque, Francisco. United Nations Social and Economic Commission for Asia and the Pacific. (1998). Adolescents in Changing Times: Issues and Perspectives for Adolescent Reproductive Health in The ESCAP Region. Retrieved July 7, 2006. ^ a b UNICEF. (2001). A League Table of Teenage Births in Rich Nations PDF (888 KiB). Retrieved July 7, 2006. ^ a b c UNICEF (July 2001). A league table of teenage births in rich nations (PDF). Innocenti Report Card No.3. UNICEF Innocenti Research Centre, Florence. ^ Social Trends 38 Chapter 2 pp 23 ^ "Census 2001 People aged 16-29" Office For National Statistics ^ [1] ^ Silence Makes Babies - Transitions Online ^ The Politics of Gender: A Survey By Yoke-Lian Lee ^ Dryburgh, H. (2002). Teenage pregnancy. Health Reports, 12 (1), 9-18; Statistics Canada . (2005). Health Indicators, 2005, 2. Retrieved from Facts and Statistics: Sexual Health and Canadian Youth - Teen Pregnancy Rates ^ Brady E. Hamilton and Stephanie J. Ventura, M.A. (April 10, 2012). "Birth Rates for U.S. Teenagers Reach Historic Lows for All Age and Ethnic Groups". Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. Retrieved April 18, 2012. ^ a b Wind, Rebecca. The Guttmacher Institute. (February 19, 2004). "U.S. Teenage Pregnancy Rate Drops For 10th Straight Year." Retrieved July 7, 2006. ^ J. Joseph Speidel, Cynthia C. Harper, and Wayne C. Shields (September 2008). "The Potential of Long-acting Reversible Contraception to Decrease Unintended Pregnancy". Contraception. ^ Strasburger, Victor C. (2007) Teen Pregnancy Rates in the USA Cool Nurse, MD University of New Mexico School of Medicine. ^ Age-specific Fertility Rates (ASFR) Number of births to women in a particular age group, divided by the number of women in that age group. The age groups used are: 15-19, 2024,.45-49. The data refer to five-year periods running from 1 July to 30 June of the initial and final years. ^ Sikron F, Wilf-Miron R, Israeli A, U.S. National Library of Medicine National Institutes of Health (Feb, 2003). "Adolescent pregnancy in Israel". Harefuah 142 (2): 1316, 158, 157. PMID 12653047. ^ Stanley K. Henshaw, Susheela Singh and Taylor Haas, The Guttmacher Institute (Jan, 1999). "The Incidence of Abortion Worldwide". ^ "Statistical Yearbook 2008". ^ Table 4.1, data from 1996, Irish Crisis Pregnancy Agency, Published 2006

Teenage pregnancy
Home > Topics > Social problems > Teenage pregnancy

Teenage pregnancy: statistics Effects of teenage pregnancy The role of young fathers Resistance to contraception use Contraception difficulties Myths about pregnancy and contraception Interventions o Promotion of safe and healthy sexual behaviour among young people and preventing teenage pregnancy o Front-line general services o Support for pregnant teenagers and young parents Resources Documents

Teenage pregnancy: statistics

Teenage pregnancy increased 57% from 1980 to 1992, an average increase of 4% per year. From 1992 to 1998, the pregnancy rate among girls aged 14 to 17 remained stable between 19 and 20 per thousand girls and then declined during the following five years to stabilize at 16,6 per thousand girls in 2003. Pregnancy rate among girls under 18 by outcome, Qubec, 1980-2003

[D] Live births and stillbirths: Demographic data, MSSS and ISQ2 Les services sociaux et de sant pour prvenir les grossesses ladolescence et leurs consquences. Abortions: RAMQ, dossier R-12 and unpublished data from CLSC and institutions offering abortions without fee for-service, totals: MSSS. Miscarriages: RAMQ, MSSS dossier R-12. Population : Statistics Canada. Calculations : Madeleine Rochon, Direction des tudes et analyses, MSSS.

Effects of teenage pregnancy

Of those teenage girls who choose to continue their pregnancy, a large proportion are from a disadvantaged or dysfunctional socio-economic background. They are increasingly young and, in many cases, were themselves born to teenage mothers (Charbonneau et al. 1989, in Cardinal Remete 1999; Morazin 1991). They generally occupy underpaid and undervalued work positions (Charbonneau et al. 1989, in Cardinal Remete 1999). These young women can nevertheless be very good mothers if they receive proper support. According to Loignon (1996), teenage mothers often face the following consequences: social isolation, poor life habits, low education level, maltreatment, stress, and depression. Likewise, studies in Canada and the United States have shown that young mothers are at greater risk of leaving school or attaining a lower level of education, and therefore reaching professional deadends or missing out on job opportunities; these factors increase the likelihood of using employment insurance benefits (Tipper 1997). Although some teenage mothers can receive help from their family and those close to them, the scene is not particularly bright. Source: Sexpression Vol.1 No 2, Winter 2005, page 2

The role of young fathers

What little literature exists on teenage fatherhood paints a similarly bleak picture of young fathers. Among others, Des Rosiers-Lampe and Frappier (1981) demonstrate that teenage fathers do not involve themselves very deeply in their new role, which may seem too onerous (Cardinal Remete 1999). Furthermore, the young man often leaves the childs mother during pregnancy or during the two years after birth (Loignon 1996). Some young women choose to keep the baby to make up for a lack of affection, and do not want the father around. In other cases, the young man must face hostility from the young womans family, even if he wants to be involved in caring for the child (Loignon 1996). Contrariwise, young men often do not want to be involved or recognize their role as parent (Loignon 1996). But despite the scarcity of data and studies on teenage fatherhood, it seems plausible that some teenagers take their paternal role very seriously and fully assume their new responsibility. Source: Sexpression Vol.1 No 2, Winter 2005, page 3

Resistance to contraception use

Most authors agree that one of the factors in teenage pregnancy is resistance to contraception (Loignon 1996; Dufort, Guilbert, and St-Laurent 2000; Cromer et al. 1997). Resistance to contraception takes one of two forms: either no contraceptive is used, or a contraceptive is used improperly. Improper use generally involves one of three problems:
1. delay between the beginning of sexual activity and the use of the contraceptive (Balassone 1991, in Dufort, Guilbert, and St-Laurent 2000); 2. inconsistent use of contraceptives (Bilodeau, Forget, and Ttreault 1994; Brindis et al. 1994, in Dufort, Guilbert, and St-Laurent 2000); 3. premature interruption of contraceptive use (Oakley et al. 1991, in Dufort, Guilbert, and StLaurent 2000). Thus, in the case of the contraceptive pill, inconsistent or improper use of the pill (forgotten doses, incorrect sequence, or poor synchronization in beginning a new pack) is a failure to follow the prescription and thereby constitutes premature interruption (Rosenberg et al. 1995).

Source: Sexpression Vol.1 No 2, Winter 2005, page 3

Contraception difficulties
Loignon (1996) lists 21 difficulties that teenagers face with regard to contraception. Here, we have listed the main ones, which also lend themselves most easily to group training and discussion activities.

Fear of asserting oneself and fear of rejection

According to Loignon (1996), lack of self-esteem and self-confidence leads teenagers to consent to unprotected sex. Often, the young woman fears that she will be rejected by her partner if she refuses to have unprotected sex or insists that he use a condom (Loignon 1996). However, it should not be forgotten that, in some cases, it may be the young man who is afraid to bring up the subject of contraception with his partner. Source: Sexpression Vol.1 No 2, Winter 2005, page 4

Early sexual relations

Young people often reach sexual maturity before psychosocial maturity; some therefore are sexually active before they are psychosocially mature (Tremblay 2001). The average age for ones first sexual relations is now 15 years old, three to four years earlier than the preceding generation (Bourque 2002). Since teenagers are now beginning their sexual lives earlier, they are not necessarily properly equipped cognitively, emotionally, or socially to deal with the difficulties and manage the risks associated with sexuality (Nakkab 1997, in Tremblay 2001; Turcotte 1994, in Tremblay 2001; Peterson et al. 1995, in Tremblay 2001). Source: Sexpression Vol.1 No 2, Winter 2005, page 4

Inability to anticipate or prepare for sex

A teenager in the moment does not have enough time to consider and organize contraception (Loignon 1996). It is therefore necessary to encourage teenagers to preventatively adopt contraceptive behaviour. Source: Sexpression Vol.1 No 2, Winter 2005, page 4

Lack of motivation
According to Loignon (1996), taking the pill every day requires strong discipline, especially when sexual relations are highly infrequent. Even though it is easy to take the pill, teenagers can often be forgetful teenage girls on the pill forget to take it an average of three times per month (Balassone 1989, in Dufort, Guilbert and St-Laurent 2000). Moreover, compliance depends on the persons motivation to use this contraceptive method. Motivation can be undermined by fear of side effects and health consequences stemming from personal anxiety or environmental factors such as the opinions of others (Deijen et al. 1997). As for condoms, a recurring scenario is observed in which condoms are often used at the beginning of the relationship but are abandoned once the partners consider the relationship stable. Intervention with teenagers must take this reality into account (De Visser and Smith 2001). Source: Sexpression Vol.1 No 2, Winter 2005, page 4

Myths about pregnancy and contraception

The prevalence of these myths supports ignorance about the risks of pregnancy (Loignon 1996). Here are some of them:

A woman cannot become pregnant the first time she has sex. A girl cannot become pregnant if she has not yet had her first menstrual period. It is impossible to become pregnant during ones period. There is no risk of pregnancy if the man withdraws before ejaculating. A woman cannot become pregnant if she does not have an orgasm. Having sex standing up or with the woman on top prevents pregnancy.

Source: Sexpression Vol.1 No 2, Winter 2005, page 5

Interventions
The health and social safety network has numerous initiatives at the provincial, regional, and local levels, many with partners such as the education network, to:

Promote safe and healthy sexual behaviour among young people and prevent teenage pregnancy; Offer support in making a decision concerning whether to abort or to carry the pregnancy to term; Support young parents.

The Ministre de la Sant et des Services sociaux (MSSS) has invested large amounts of money in these initiatives.

Promotion of safe and healthy sexual behaviour among young people and preventing teenage pregnancy
Effective measures to prevent teenage pregnancy depend heavily on sex education in school, including promotion of equality in romantic relationships. This is because school is one of the main environments for socialization of young people. The family, the community, and friends also have important roles to play in sex education.
Healthy Schools

A large proportion of sex education is carried out through the school system, in interventions carried out under the Healthy Schools program. The health promotion and prevention activities that make up Healthy Schools are integrated into regular school activities and are intended for all students, including youth at risk. These activities work proactively on the main individual factors (such as self-esteem, social skills, and sexual behaviour) and environmental factors (family, school, and community environments) that affect the educational success, health, and well-being of children and teenagers. These measures help to prevent many problems that affect young people, including teenage pregnancy. At present, the Healthy Schools approach is being implemented in all regions of Qubec; its implementation is based on close cooperation with the education network. In 2004-2005, the MSSS earmarked $4 million for preventive services for school-age youth. $11,000 goes to producing and distributing the magazine Sexpression, in collaboration with the sexology department of the Universit du Qubec Montral (UQAM); its goal is to prepare teaching staff and other personnel to provide sex education.

The document Sex Education in the Context of Education Reform, the fruit of cooperation between the Ministre de lducation, du Loisir et du Sport and the MSSS, puts forward a teaching approach in accordance with the Quebec Education Program. Among

other subjects, the document deals with self-respect, emotional and romantic life, egalitarian relationships, and prevention of sexual exploitation. Personnel from the education network and from youth teams at health and social services center (CSSSs) have received training on how to use this document properly to help provide quality sex education in schools. Besides the importance of clear and coherent messages tailored to a youth audience regarding a positive and respectful attitude to sexuality and interpersonal relationships, risk behaviours, and protection methods, the approach also promotes multidimensional interventions involving youth, schools, parents, and the community as well as clinical services.
Youth clinics

Youth clinics offer interventions to prevent teenage pregnancy, counselling services, and education activities on sexuality, STI and blood-borne infection prevention, and counselling on family planning. Youth clinic services exist in nearly all regions of Qubec, established by CSSSs in close collaboration with the school network and local organizations.
Other healthy sexuality awareness activities

The MSSS has supported the production and distribution of various informational tools for youth-oriented sex education, such as the following:

Les annes papillon, a sex education video produced by Vidofemmes, targeted at grade 5 and 6 students, and aiming to help build their critical thinking, self-knowledge, and responsibility for their own sexuality; A tour for the play Pas de bb, pas de bbittes by the Parminou theatre troupe, about preventing STIs, blood-borne infections, and teenage pregnancy; HIV/AIDS and STI awareness and prevention activities for high-school students, organized by Ruban en Route; Drogue, alcool, sexe et risques et sexualit, a video for teenagers and young adults produced by UQAM; lysa, a website set up by UQAM to answer questions about sexuality, in collaboration with TelJeunes, which deals with young peoples questions regarding sexuality.

The MSSS has invested nearly $200,000 in producing and distributing these tools.

Front-line general services

Front-line services such as developmental support for teenagers, psychosocial counselling, and crisis intervention, are provided at CSSSs. Over the last two years, the MSSS has invested some $8.5 million in improving social services for youth.

Furthermore, the Ministre has implemented an expanded program for access to emergency oral contraception (EOC). Through this program, women can obtain the morning-after pill directly from a pharmacist without needing a physicians prescription. The pharmacists consultation is covered by the Rgie de lassurance maladie du Qubec (RAMQ) and is therefore free to all women with a Medicare card. In 2003, $525,000 was invested in EOC-related services; more than 10% of the cases involved teenagers.

The Collge des mdecins du Qubec has started an initiative on prevention of unwanted pregnancies, involving the preparation and distribution of a template protocol for nurses and physicians on collective prescription of hormonal contraception. These collective prescriptions, currently in preparation, aim to improve access to contraception. Other interventions aim to provide the necessary support and information to help teenage girls and their partners make informed decisions regarding the outcome of pregnancy and preserve their physical and psychological integrity. Teenage girls also have access, as do all women in Qubec, to elective abortion services. These are offered in all regions of Qubec. Abortion rates were 12.6 per 1,000 teenage girls in 2003, down from previous years (12.8 per thousand in 2002, 13.8 per thousand in 2001, and 14.0 per thousand in 2000.) Since 2001, the MSSS has allocated a recurring sum of $2.7 million to improve access to elective abortion.

Support for pregnant teenagers and young parents

Services targeted at young parents are available in all of Qubecs CSSSs. They aim to:

Give young families the support they need to promote optimum development of their children and improve their living conditions; Prevent and reduce social adjustment difficulties and developmental delays in children; Reduce intergenerational transmission of health problems and social problems such as abuse, neglect, and violence towards children; Promote safer sexual behaviours and family planning.

This support for young parents is offered from the twelfth week of pregnancy and continues intensively until the child is five years old. Among the main features are home visits by a CSSS

social worker. Initiatives from all community resources also contribute to supporting young parents and their children. In order to offer young parents the best possible services, a continuing training program and intervention guides have been developed for social workers and community partners. Also, a research team is intensively studying the implementation of support services for young parents, with their short, medium, and long-term effects. Every year, the MSSS invests some $26 million in supporting young parents. Since the implementation of the support program for young parents, more than 4,000 young families have benefited from its services. The Ministre de lEmploi et de la Solidarit sociale, the MSSS, and the Association qubcoise dtablissements de sant et de services sociaux have joined forces to offer financial aid to destitute pregnant teenagers who are receiving young parents support services but who do not have any financial resources to respond to their needs.

Resources
These resources provide support for planned or unplanned pregnancy, contraception, and sexuality.

Info Sant www.msss.gouv.qc.ca/info-sante Tel-jeunes: telephone hotline Tel.: 514-288-2266 (Montral region) Tel.: 1-800-263-2266 (toll-free elsewhere in Qubec) www.tel-jeunes.com (in French only) S.O.S. Grossesse 418-682-6222 (Qubec region) 1-877-662-9666 (toll-free elsewhere in Qubec) http://pages.globetrotter.net/sosgrossesse/ (in French only) Grossesse Secours (514) 271-0554 (Montral region) www.grossesse-secours.org (in French only) S.O.S. Grossesse Estrie Tel.: 819-822-1181 Tel.: 1-877-822-1181 (toll-free elsewhere in the Estrie region) www.sosgrossesseestrie.qc.ca (in French only) Fdration du Qubec pour le planning des naissances (FQPN) Tel.: 514-866-3721 www.fqpn.qc.ca (in French only)

Kids Help Phone: help line and reference tool (bilingual) Tel.: 1-800-668-6868 (toll-free) www.kidshelpphone.ca/en/ Ligne-parents: telephone hotline and support services Tel.: 1-800-361-5085 (toll-free)

Websites about sexuality:

www.msss.gouv.qc.ca/its www.jcapote.com(in French only) www.unites.uqam.ca/dsexo/index.htm www.sexualityandu.ca www.not-2-late.com

*The mention of a Website or link on this site does not imply an official endorsement by the Ministre de la Sant et des Services sociaux.

Documents
Magazine

Affective and sexual dependence - A phenomenon to discuss with youth Sexpression, Vol. 1, No 1, Winter 2005. Teenage pregnancy: an ongoing phenomenon Sexpression, Vol. 1, No 2, Winter 2005. Embracing other cultures : Sex education for a multicultural clientele Sexpression, Vol. 1, No 3, Winter 2005. Le petit Magazine et le magazine Rayon X(in French only)

Pamphlet

The Emergency Contraceptive Pill

http://www.msss.gouv.qc.ca/en/sujets/prob_sociaux/teenage_pregnancy.php

Teenage pregnancy
November 14, 2008 - Comment and Opinion - 0 Comments

It is a story that may not be too pleasant, but one that is repeated all too often: teenage

pregnancy. Some 16.5 million Filipinos belong to the 15-24 year old age group. We are forced with a glaring truth that at a very young age, a lot of young people today have children of their own. 30 % of all births belong to this age group; and by the age of 20, 25% of the youth are already mothers. Statistics show that every year at least 64,000 teenagers have abortions, and those are statistics from a country where abortion is illegal, yet we claim we are Catholics, who are preserving and valuing life. Abortions. Do these teens know they are killing a human? They might or they might not, or they might just pretend they do not know. But how did abortion come into the picture? How did abortion even become an option? Fear. Fear of being unaccepted, fear of the unknown, and lots and lots of fear. Will no one stand up and lend an ear to just listen to what these teens are experiencing? Just how many more girls are getting rid of their babies? How many girls die by trying to kill their unborn child? How many babies will have to lose their life because no one listens? We might say that the pregnancy of these teenagers is just the mere result of the gratification of sexual urges. Yes we might say that. That pregnancy would not occur if studies had been prioritized instead of the relationship of the opposite sex. That if there were no premarital sex (PMS), there would be no pregnancy. On one simple glance, we would judge these teenagers guilty. Period. But have we even asked ourselves if we have the right to judge? Were we there when these teens were growing up? Were we even present when these teens cried out for love when they were still kids? Were we there to witness how their concept of love metamorphoses into sex and there was no one to correct this wrong concept? My point is, were not there and we do not know. What right do we have to judge? As a whole, the situation is grim for pregnant teenage girls ands their babies. Forced with few options with nowhere to turn to, many girls find various ways to get rid of the fetus. In a few cases, some simply disguise their bellies and hide their pregnancy from everyone, and deal with the baby only at the time of birth. These things often happen because of the seeming lack option for pregnant teenagers; because of the supposed shame that the pregnancy brings, many would rather deal with it on their own rather than involving their family and friends. One can just imagine the impact pregnancy would bring to a pregnant teen. Even married couples experiences fears when pregnancy arises, how much more for the young teenagers. Questions and a lot more questions would pop out from the minds of these young girls. What is now to happen to my studies? Who would I tell this to? How should I tell this to my parents? What is to happen now? With all these questions coming out, who will then try to enlighten? Friends, who might say keep the baby; or friends, who suggest to get rid of the baby? When the parents, the supposedly right persons to tell to, do not even know? My question is, who can help these people to make the right choice? Pregnancy is a gift. The baby is a miracle, a great gift and treasure from God. Pregnancy is not a sin neither a crime. It is merely a result of a consummated relationship; pregnancy may not be planned by man but has long been laid out in the perfect plan of our Creator.

Pregnancy during the teenage years is a bombastic situation, one that comes unexpected. For a student facing unintended pregnancy, the physical, emotional and spiritual issues can seem overwhelming. Teenage pregnancy may have been the result of the lack of supervision from parents, though blaming is nonetheless helpful if pregnancy presents itself. What I would like to emphasize is that the pregnant teenagers need help. They need understanding and acceptance the more. Who would lend a helping hand? Would you lend a hand and save not only one but two lives? To the readers, I would like to pose a challenge. What can you do to the commitment and choice of life? Can you make every extra effort to provide pregnant students with caring, nonjudgmental, professional assistance and support? It may sound so idealistic or what, and its up to all of you to decide for yourself, but I really do believe that in our own little ways we have to do something to make the world a better place, and not a bitter place to live in. God love us so much, and its up to us to spread that love to the people who needs it more.. and most. May the Holy Triune God live in our hearts, And in the hearts of all people. Amen.