BHE418 Module 4 SLP

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BHE418Module1SLPTeenPregnancy.doc

Running Head: MODULE 1- SLP 1

MODULE 1: SLP 2

Teen Pregnancy

Elizabeth Davis

Trident International University

7 February 2019

Introduction

Teen pregnancy also referred to as adolescence pregnancy occurs when young females of age 13 to 19 years become pregnant. There are many challenges associated with these kind of pregnancies most of them being socioeconomic factors. This particular population normally consists of students who have little information about parenthood. Most often, teenage pregnancies occur unintentionally, and they lead to negative effects on the teenage mother. Since teenage mothers do not have the necessary resources to withstand healthy habits during the pregnancy, they often give birth to unhealthy babies. This study focuses on assessing background information about teen pregnancy, explaining the significance of addressing the behavior, and explaining the consequences that the behaviors have on the individual’s health.

Background information

Despite America being among the top industrialized nations in the world, it is the leading industrialized nation in teen pregnancies. In the year 2016 alone, 209,809 babies were born by teen mothers aged 15-19 years (Hamilton & Mathews, 2016). This number of babies born in that year equates to 20.3 births for teenage females in that age bracket. The number has however, been declining over the years, and the 20.3 births represents a 9% decline when compared to the birth rate in 2015 (Hamilton & Mathews, 2016). The figure also represents a 67% decline when compared with the birth rate in 1991 when Office of Adolescent Health (OAH) started to put emphasis on the behavior (Hamilton & Mathews, 2016).

Teen pregnancy is of critical concern because it has been reported to be the leading cause of deaths in young adolescents during child birth. The deaths are often initiated by the lack of resources to support healthy habits during the pregnancy period. The teenage deaths are also accelerated by the desperation the teenage mothers experience when they are rejected by many people including family members. A majority of the pregnant teens start engaging in dangerous behaviors such as drinking alcohol and cigarette smoking while seeking solace. They subsequently, expose their life, and that of the baby to more danger. The rejection that the pregnant teens face also causes some of them to opt for suicide, in a bid to evade the humiliation.

Usually, teen pregnancy varies with age, race, ethnicity, and region. According to teen pregnancy statistics collected in the year 2016, 74 percent of the births were from teenagers aged 18-19 years (Hamilton & Mathews, 2016). Teen birth rates were also found to be higher in Hispanic, and black teenagers than in their white equals. Also, the Northeast was reported to have lower birth rates than the southern states of the nation. The statistics also showed that 17 percent of the teen births resulted from female adolescents who had already given birth before. (Hamilton & Mathews, 2016).

Existing research reports that the repeated teen birth is accelerated by the fact that the teen mothers do not have the necessary education about family planning (Finer, 2010). Also, the repeated teen births occur because a majority of the teen mothers, lack means of supporting themselves economically, and thus they find themselves in irresponsible behaviors while seeking money to raise the babies. Due to this issue OAH is currently focusing on mitigating repeated teen births through the Pregnancy Assistance Funds (PAF) (Finer, 2010).

Importance of addressing teen pregnancy.

Teen pregnancy has many negative implications which make its control crucial. Adolescent pregnancy causes substantial socioeconomic challenges on the adolescent parents and their children in the long run. Most females who give birth during their teenage years do not further their education, and this factor causes them to raise their children in poverty. According to a study done by Hall & Santelli, (2016), teen pregnancy is the largest contributor of school dropouts among teenage females. 50% of teen mothers do not have a high school diploma, while 90% of girls who do not give birth in their teenage years graduate from high school. The lack of education causes the teenage mothers to live in poverty, and therefore they lack the resources to educate their children. Most of the teenage mother children’s therefore have low school achievements, they may give birth as teenagers, experience more health challenges, may drop out of school, and they may face unemployment as young adults.

Increase in the number of teenage pregnancies lowers economic development because most of the teenage parents do not have the skills required to promote economic advancement. Teen pregnancy causes the nation to incur high expenses while trying to increase healthcare services to accommodate the rising number of teenage mothers. The cost for managing teen pregnancy in 2010 alone was $9.4 billion which was felt by taxpayers (Boonstra, 2014). Therefore, it is important to address the teen pregnancy behavior in order to foster social and economic development as well as control its consequences which are majorly felt by innocent taxpayers.

Consequences of teen pregnancy on individual’s health.

In most cases, teen pregnancy impacts the individual’s health negatively because a majority of them are unplanned. Most teenage females who become pregnant undergo stressful situations mostly because of fear of how to deal with the situation. The health of these individuals deteriorates due to stress as they face rejection from their friends, and family. Due to the stressful situation, some of these individuals start engaging in irresponsible behaviors such as drinking alcohol and smoking cigarettes, thereby endangering their health and that of the infant. The emotional distress due to rejection by family and friends causes some of the individuals to opt suicide to evade the humiliation. Due to lack of the necessary socioeconomic resources to withstand healthy habits during the pregnancy, most of the victims’ experience various health challenges during the pregnancy.

Conclusion

Teen pregnancy is significant health care problem whose end results can be vital if it is not controlled. The target population for this problem is teenagers aged 13-19 years, who have little information on parenthood. The problem has resulted in substantial devastating impacts, which limits economic development. Some of the consequences of teen pregnancy include poverty, and high taxation of tax payers in order to provide care to the teen mothers. The Office of Adolescent Health (OAH) through the pregnancy assistance fund is however, making efforts to help teenage parents in order to ensure that the problem do not affect the next generation.

References

Boonstra, H. D. (2014). What is behind the declines in teen pregnancy rates?. Guttmacher Policy Review, 17(3), 15-21.

Finer, L. B. (2010). Unintended pregnancy among US adolescents: accounting for sexual activity. Journal of Adolescent Health, 47(3), 312-314.

Hall, K. S., Sales, J. M., Komro, K. A., & Santelli, J. (2016). The state of sex education in the United States. The Journal of adolescent health: official publication of the Society for Adolescent Medicine, 58(6), 595.

Hamilton, B. E., & Mathews, T. J. (2016). Continued declines in teen births in the United States, 2015. US Department of Health and Human Services, Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, National Center for Health Statistics.