Teenage pregnancy is now a problem that the whole world is facing and something has to be done to tackle teenage pregnancy right away. Teenage pregnancy is defined when an underage or teenage girl (13-17 years) becomes pregnant. These girls have not reached the legal adulthood age and so the pregnancy is referred to as Teenage pregnancy.

Teenage pregnancy is a major concern as the average age of a girl attaining her first menstrual cycle is diminishing across the globe and so teenage pregnancy is on the rise. Teenage girls encounter many more problems during a teenage pregnancy and childbirth than older women. The reasons for higher complication in Teenage pregnancy includes physical immaturity, poor diet in the developing nations, inadequate antenatal and prenatal care, very high levels of emotional, mental and physical distress, cigarette smoking and alcohol consumption and last but not the least lack of basic health care knowledge. In most of Teenage pregnancy cases the partner is never told about the pregnancy and most Teenage pregnancy cases end up with the girl having to bear the burden of the child alone. Teenage pregnancy causes social stigma especially of being a single parent. Teenage pregnancy also leads to alienation from family and friends alike, risk of child abuse and neglect, not receiving adequate guidance mainly due to parental inexperience. Data and research has shown us that Teenage pregnancy leads to teenage mothers and so the mothers have low educational benefits, are poor and so lead an unstable life. Teenage pregnancy in the developed nations generally carries social stigma and so teenage pregnancies are aborted. In some countries child marriages and early marriages are common and so teenage pregnancy has become a norm. Teenage pregnancy is seen as a blessing in some countries because it is a reason to prove a women’s fertility. In some cases, accidental intercourse and lack of proper contraceptive methods lead to Teenage pregnancy.

Teenage pregnancy causes a lot of problems to the child as well as the mother. Babies of teenage mothers have generally low birth weight, and are born premature because the teenage mothers do not get care and attention during Teenage pregnancy. A teenage mother also stands a risk in pregnancy of complications such as anemia, high blood pressure and premature labor. These risks mentioned above are even more dangerous for Teenage pregnancy of girls who are less than 14 years of age. Teenage pregnancy and childbirth leads to babies who are premature and whose organs are not fully developed. This can cause serious problems later on and very low-birth weight babies don’t last for more than a year.

Teenage pregnancy can be controlled if not fully curbed by talking to your teenage child. Discuss matters relating to sex and tell him the consequences. Teenage pregnancy can be avoided if the proper guidance on sex and sex education is taught in the biology class. The ill effects of teenage pregnancy should be highlighted and serious topics like HIV and AIDS should be discussed with your teenager. The ill effects of teenage pregnancy and the harm that it can cause to the mother and child should be discussed in detail, at home or at school and valuable suggestions should be given. There are many methods and ways to put an end to teenage pregnancy that the school and parents need to initialize, so that teenage pregnancy can be avoided.

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