Usually, when we come across this topic, we go all “Oooo”, but it’s time we start taking these health-related things seriously. Come on now, we all know how difficult it is to handle both the teenage tactics and pregnancy at the same time. Sometimes, “challenge” can be an understatement.
How common is teenage pregnancy?
It’s quite evident that a woman can get pregnant after having intercourse at any age after she has begun having her regular periods. Nowadays, it has become more common than we would have ever thought of. 3 in 10 American teen girls get pregnant at least once before age 20. More than 50% of teen mums never graduate from high school. 8 out of 10 fathers never marry the mother of their child. All these statistics just put a caution light on this delicate subject.
“Reducing teen pregnancy and birth is one of the most effective ways of reducing child poverty in the country”.
Jordan Brown
Affects of pregnancy on teen mothers :
Young people going through the phase of adolescence have to go through a tough time. From defying parents’ attempts to safeguard them from staying out late. Teenage is a time when a person’s body is transforming from childhood to adulthood. In the process of undergoing this change, there are tough decisions to be made, and there are times when they have to fight with themselves. On top of this, if they have to undergo a stricter time like getting pregnant, then it would be no less than a ‘hell’.
When you get pregnant as a teen, you would be worried about things such as ‘How am i going to tell my parents?‘ ; ‘What if my parents kick me out?‘ ; ‘How will i go to school after this?‘ ; ‘Who do i talk to about this?‘ Et cetera. After this questionnaire, you decide not to talk to anyone about it and keeping it all to yourself. Eventually, stress builds up inside you and eventually turns into a form called ‘depression’.
Many teen mothers drop out of their respective schools and never even complete their education. This leads to them living in poverty later and finds it challenging to earn a living.
Teenage Pregnancy affecting babies :
Most of the adolescent mothers give birth to premature babies. Most of the time, these babies are underdeveloped, which can cause many lifelong problems. These babies are born underweight and have issues with breathing and are more susceptible to other diseases.
In addition to being susceptible to other deadly diseases, they also are at a higher risk of infant mortality. They will also have to face a lot of problems if not fed at proper time intervals and not taken adequate care of them.
Ways to prevent teenage pregnancy :
Primarily, it would be safe not to have intercourse at all. Secondary, even if you wish to make love, there are always some contraceptive methods to prevent it. Prescription birth control can be available in any women’s health clinic. Some of the birth control methods are mentioned below:
Barrier methods, such as Condoms :
The effectiveness of condoms is 85%, so you can’t trust these when you’re taking one. There are many chances of getting pregnant, even after using condoms. But proper use of these can also prevent you from getting pregnant.
Hormonal contraception, such as pills or injections :
The tablets are more than 99% effective if you take them properly, as prescribed by the doctor. The Depo Provera injections too are very effective in preventing pregnancy (up to 99%). They also protect against sexually transmissible diseases such as Chlamydia, gonorrhea, HPV, genital herpes, and the Zika virus.
Emergency contraceptive :
These include copper IUD (Intrauterine device) and ECP (Emergency Contraceptive Pill). These are as much as 98% effective in preventing pregnancy and are safe to use too.
Sex education :
We have come across this term a lot of times- in schools and at home too. So what does this mean? It means to educate one’s self about sex and sexuality. At home, parents are believed to provide their children with sexual health and behaviour, and at school, teachers are supposed to be equipped with the knowledge of sex and teen pregnancy.
These days, we see there are many communities formed for the same cause, educating young people of sex and contraceptive methods. If you are feeling uncomfortable to talk to someone about teenage pregnancy, then there are always some health programs where they counsel you well. These groups help teenagers understand their sexual limits.