Introduction to Teenage Pregnancy
Teenage pregnancy, Premature babies, and its ill consequences on society and the teens themselves have been a matter of discussion to date! Teenage pregnancy refers to the teen girl getting pregnant before touching her 20th birthday. So, ideally, any girl getting pregnant between 15 to 19 years of age, is said to be called the Teen Pregnancy or Adolescent pregnancy. Although, a girl getting pregnant between 10 years to 15 years shall also fall under the same category.
According to the IndiaSpend, - 'India alone consists of almost 253 million teenagers. This number is the biggest of all - and is the same when the populations of Germany, Japan, and Spain have combined altogether.'
It has led to almost 33.3% of the people taking birth as adolescents. According to the United Nations Population Fund review, 2013 - 'If the same graph continues, then it indeed is projected to increase the teenager's pregnancies by almost 25.1% till we get into the year 2050.'
Moving forward to throw some light on the problems taking place due to teenage pregnancies have been discussed below.
Teenage Pregnancy Statistics
In the US, Teenage Pregnancy is impacted by two races I.e., Asian American Teenage girls showing the highest decline in teen girls pregnancy whereas American Teen girls and the Non-Hispanic Black Teen girls showed the least decline in Teenage Pregnancy.
Almost 1,80,000 babies were born in the year 2018 to the teens falling under the age group of 15 to 19.
Since 1990, the Teen Pregnancy rates have shown a big amount of fall.
In the last 3 decades, the birth rates of infants through teens have shown a tremendous decrease by almost 70%.
What are the symptoms associated with teenage pregnancy?
Excess weight gain
Unseen mood swings
Morning Sickness causing vomiting
Food cravings
Belly pain and swelling
Urinating more often
Irritation and uneasiness in the body
Breast/Nipples getting sore
Halt in periods
Fatigue
What is the problem with teenage pregnancy?
Following are the problems caused due to teenage pregnancy -
The babies taking birth prematurely are at a higher risk of having low or underweight. Their weight generally alters between 3.3 to 5.5 pounds. The major reason for these babies being underweight is the less time that they get to develop themselves well inside the womb of a mother.
Babies falling under such premature or teen pregnancies need immediate care and treatment after seconds of coming into this life. They are put under the neonatal care unit in the hospitals. It helps newborn babies to breathe properly.
No parents or society would support the pre-marriage teen giving births! It sounds so stressful and problematic. It also increases the risk of getting a negligible or a zero understanding of the situation from their parents.
Prenatal care plays a major role especially in the starting 3 months of childbirth. Lacking this can lead to affecting mothers and the infant's health severely.
Prenatal care is mandatory to diagnose and rectify all the post-pregnancy side effects or medical problems on the mother and their newly born infants. This way doctors recommend prenatal vitamins like folic acids that are required to be consumed before the pregnancy to avoid any kind of neural tube defects and other birth defects as well. Here, lacking the intake of such medications can lead to unseen and unwanted birth defects in the premature baby that can last for years.
Teenage boys becoming fathers who take the responsibility of the child are least likely to complete their high schools by 30% as per the reports.
It can lead to a serious mental and physical toll on the teen fathers -
Stress about child's care
Financial constraints - End up doing part-time jobs to feed their child
Anxiety and depression coming because of mothers health
Stress about lack of knowledge concerning handling the baby
Managing household at such an early age
Educational challenges leading to affecting their studies severely
Teenage pregnancy can lead to premature birth. The birth of a baby generally takes an average of 40 weeks. The preemie or premature birth happens when the baby is born before completing 37 weeks of development in the mother's belly.
It involves two cases generally -
1st case: At the time of premature birth, the baby is delivered early to save the lives of the infant and the mother.
2nd case: At the time of premature birth, the baby is not delivered early. The premature labor is being stopped by the medications.
A baby who is born early can consist of several illnesses related to eyesight issues, respiratory problems, cognitive, digestion-related constraints, etc.
Depression has no address, age, and gender - it comes and goes without knocking at your door! Premature birth can put the teen fathers under trouble of getting onto overstressing everything.
Even the infant's mother is 80% likely to be under the stress of managing her child all by herself as her boyfriend is also immature to tackle such situations.
Overburden regarding his managing of big expenses concerned with eating food, having a shelter, doctor consultation, clothing, shelter, and other expenses can severely create the cumbersome effects on the health of both the parents - Teen Mother and the Teen Father.
Moreover, finding the gateway to inform parents about such mishappening can be a scary task! No family or friends support leads to serious mental health depressive episodes.
Final Words
Teen pregnancy is not a crime but it's illegal! Proper education and awareness can effectively help people to avoid unnecessary pregnancies among teenage girls who are not mature or capable enough mentally, emotionally, financially, and physically to take care of the infants born with them. With proper measures, they will be better able to understand the pros and cons of every situation and will start adopting contraceptive pills to avoid pregnancies at such an early stage.
Reference
https://americanpregnancy.org/unplanned-pregnancy/teen-pregnancy-issues-challenges-26202/