Women Corner

Common Risks Associated with Teen Pregnancy

September 10th, 2009 |

Pregnancy can be one of the greatest experiences in a woman’s life. Unfortunately too many young teen girls with bright futures ahead of them are experiencing pregnancy at far too early of any age. Teen pregnancy can be traumatic for a lot of people other than just the mother. The child’s father (often a young teenager himself) not to mention the parents and family of the couple as well. The actual stress of telling people, the increased pressure from family and friends on your decision making and just simply moving on for the best interest of the child can be very hard for a young girl. Pregnancy with teenagers will never be easy and will most likely continue to be a highly controversial topic for a long time. .

Even though in the last few years the overall number of teen pregnancies in America has slowly started to decline, the pregnancy rate among teenage girls still remains alarmingly high. According to Women’s Health Magazine, in the US, over 1 million teenage girls become pregnant last year alone.

Health risks to teenage mothers are much higher than conventional pregnancies. Premature birth and substantially increased percentage of miscarriage and genetic defects are normal for teenage pregnancies. The mother is also at much higher risk of contracting gestational diabetes.

The biggest problem facing teen mothers though isn’t physical. The emotional, financial and social impact that a baby will have on a teenage mother 75% of teenage mothers don’t finish high school and out of that only 55% actually move on to receive their GED within 5 years. Financially a teenager is simply incapable of taking care of a baby on their own. All the love and affection in the world isn’t going to buy diapers and formula and with today’s economy, the job prospects for a single teenage mother are pretty slim.

Another risk associated with teenage pregnancy is the lack of proper medical care. These teen mothers are usually scared to even admit they are pregnant and often will seek the required medical attention of their doctor later than is needed. New mothers typically want to be on a regiment of prenatal vitamins, have dietary needs and can even have early pregnancy complications. Unfortunately this negligence is often the cause behind the increased number of teenage miscarriages.

It’s up to parents to combat early teenage pregnancy. Open communication about sex, relationships and pregnancy are an absolute must for today’s parents. Explain to your daughters the complications they will face if they are not careful. Of course mistakes do happen, but with a little common sense, open lines of communication and mutual respect between parent and child, mistakes like these can be drastically reduced.

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