Teenage Pregnancy

By: Lindsey, Jimmy, Mary

Statistics

•   Every 31 seconds an adolescent becomes pregnant

•   Every 2 minutes a teen gives birth

•   U.S. has highest teenage birth rates (4 times as many as Canada who ranks second)

•   1 million teens in the U.S. get pregnant each year

Development

•          Young people becoming sexually experienced at earlier ages

•          Society accepts youth’s sexual activity

•          Teen mothers usually early developers

•        Over 1/3 had started menstruation by age 11

•          Earlier physical maturity

•        Britain 11-12 yrs, USA 12 yrs, Norway 14 yrs.

Through the Times

•   Lack of studies from the past

•   The notion of adolescence was missing from early America (17^th, 18^th, 19^th centuries)

•   Age of sexual maturity was much older, so pregnancy wasn’t a major concern

17^th and 18^th Centuries

•   Colonial women who did not marry in their teenage years were seen as unfortunate and disadvantaged

•   Young pregnancies were not seen as a problem because of early marriages

•   Study done by Smith & Hindus in 1975 showed low rates of premarital pregnancies in 17^th century (biased study in two Mass. towns)

•   Rapid rise and peak of premarital pregnancies in the late 17^th and early 18^th centuries

•   By late 1700’s about 30% of births occurred within first 8 ½ months of marriage

19^th Century

•   Changes in health and living occurred during the agricultural revolution

•   Urban industrial society

•   Early 19^th century menarche didn’t start until 17 or 18 yrs. of age

•   Decrease in premarital pregnancy

•  May have occurred due to wave of religious revival

1960’s and 1970’s

•   Sexual revolution

•   Rapid decrease in age of first intercourse during the 1970’s

•   Teen pregnancies increased 23% between 1972 and 1990

Today

•   24% rise in the teenage birth rate from 1986 to 1991

•   Teen pregnancy rates declined slowly but steadily from 1991 to 2000 with an overall decline of 22% for those aged 15 to 19

•   Most teenagers giving birth before 1980 were married whereas most teens giving birth today are unmarried

•   One of every 3 girls has had sex by age 16, 2 out of 3 by age 18. Two of 3 boys have had sex by age 18.

Complications of Teen Pregnancy

•   Anemia-significant competition between the nutritional needs of the young mother and her fetus

•   Toxemia-poisoned condition of the blood cased by the presence of toxic materials

•   Cephopelvic Disproportion-caesarian section sometimes required

•   Hypertension

•   Abruptio Placental-seperation of the normally located placenta after the 20^th week of gestation and prior to birth

•   Urinary Tract Infection

•   Prolonged Labor (over 20 hrs.)

Complications of Teen Pregnancy Cont.

•   Difficult or Premature Delivery

•   Pelvic Contraction

•   One day fever

•   Mild and Severe Preeclampsia-Due to HBP, protein leaks into the urine. Leading cause of maternal death

•   Eclampsia-Causes hypertension and generalized convulsions; may be fatal

•   Puerperal Morbidity-Caused by puerperal infection usually following childbirth. Starts in genital tract; can be fatal

•    Maternal Death

Complications for Children

•   Low birth weight (less than 5 ½ lbs.)

•   Premature birth (less than 36wks gestation)

More Complications of Children

•   Lowered cognitive abilities

•   Respiratory Stress Syndrome

•   Hypoglycemia

•   Jaundice

•   Other metabolic and neurological disorders

•   Increase in infant death (often related to SIDS)

Disorders related to Low Birth Weight

•   Intellectual Impairment

•   Hyperkinesis (motor control and ADHD)

•   Autism

•   Involvement in early childhood accidents

•   Language delays

•   Academic achievement problems

•   Growth impairment

•   Motor impairment

•   Neurological disfunction

•   Previously mentioned factors are not primarily biological, but they are also socially, economically, and emotionally based.

•   Most group studies do not account for socioeconomic status among pregnant teens age 20 or younger.

•   Incidence of prenatal anemia can be caused by socioeconomic causes rather than age.

Effects of Socioeconomic Status

•          Adequate Prenatal Care

–         Defined as care beginning in 1^st trimester and including 5-9 prenatal visits, depending on gestational age at birth; intermediate care begins in 2^nd trimester or includes 2-8 prenatal visits.

•          Inadequate Prenatal Care

–         Begins in the third trimester or includes 0-4 visits.

Younger mothers are less likely to seek prenatal care during the first three trimesters of pregnancy.

Table (% of mothers who seek prenatal care dependent on trimesters)

Statistics

•   Simms and Smith, 1986; based on 27% of 92 teen mothers who didn’t seek medical care until the 3^rd trimester

•   Reasons for Waiting

–    ½ didn’t know they were pregnant

–    16% didn’t go out of fear/embarrassment

–    14% afraid to confront pregnancy

–    14% couldn’t talk to parents

–    13% felt they didn’t need medical advice

–    4% afraid of abortion

•  Other reasons included ignorance of healthcare procedures and difficulty of access (Phi Delta Kappa, p. 135)

Aftercare

•   Sociodemographic variables, such as maternal education and socioeconomic status contribute more to a child’s well being after birth than the age of the mother at pregnancy.

•   Variables include:

–   Maternal education disrupted due to pregnancy

–   Single parent status

–   Unshared childcare responsibilities

Aftercare Continued

•   Adult mothers take babies for well baby care after birth as opposed to adolescent mothers who seek medical advice for problems such as colds, crying, feeding problems, etc.

•   Willful neglect and child abuse are not more common among teen mothers but lack of experience and maturity may have overall influence on child’s health.

Brazil

•   Demographics

–   Largest country in S. America

–   Official language is Portugese

–   Main religion is Catholicism

–   Problems with domestic violence, street children, child abuse, and husbands murdering family members

–   Life expectancy

• Men 64

• Women 69.6

Overview of Teen Pregnancy

•   teen pregnancy is viewed as a problemà associated w/ maternal morbidity and mortality, delivery complication, and low-birth-weight infants

•   there is no federal funding for any substantial programming to prevent teen pregnancy  

•   Teens and preteens gave birth to 900,000 babies in 1997, accounting for 26.5% of all live births in the country

Related Questions

•   What kind of message does Carnaval send to teens? (annual feast of Brazilian sensual indulgence)

•   How does Brazil’s well-earned reputation for its laid-back ideas on sexual freedom affect teens?

•   What is the impact of easy access pornography?

•   Does T.V. nudity make a difference?

(these questions are being debated by politician, social workers, and health officials)

Social views, customs, and practices

•   two social customs clearly contribute to teen pregnancy

–   Ficar

–   influence of parentela

Conclusion

•   teen pregnancy has a low priority in government

•   policymakers agree that to reduce teen pregnancy, it is necessary to better understand

•   reproductive attitude, behavior, and interaction between teen boys and girlsà w/ this info., it is possible to develop educational programs that are culturally appropriate and

•   designed to reduce teen sexual activity and childbearing

•   if problem proceedsàensures that teen mothers will drop out of school, probably have health problems (mother or child), work menial jobs or turn to prostitution, and remain poor for the rest of their lives.

Israel

•   Demographics

–   in the region of Palestineàformed in 1948 as a Jewish state

–   it borders and is influenced by Arab countries

–   81% of population are Jewishà36% of world’s Jewish population live in Israel

–   Israel is segregated between Jews and Palestinians

• 4.728 million Jews

• 1.255 million Palestinians

–   Muslim or Christian

–   official language is both Hebrew and Arabic

Overview of Teen Pregnancy

•    teen pregnancy does not appear to be a major social problem

–    according to the Central Bureau of Statistics (1999)àin 1997, 6,690 girls (2% of all girls) between 13 and 19 years old became pregnant

•    low rate of teen pregnancy is in part due to the low rate of adolescent premarital sexual activity.

•    study in 1995 reported that 28% of adolescent males and 14% of adolescent females in tenth and eleventh grades reported premarital sexual activity

•    other reason for the low rate of teen pregnancy:

–    the strength of the families

–    “family planning education” or sex ed.

–    birth control

–    religion and nationalism in lives of Israeli adolescents

Social Views, Customs, and Practices

•   Culture

–   both Jewish and Palestinian families function under a strict system of patriarchy.  If a female adolescent engages in consensual premarital sex and becomes pregnant, she is faced w/ the severe criticism and punishments of her father. Single parenthood is not socially accepted in Israel.  Most adolescents wait for marriage before having children, and girls who choose to have premarital sex use some birth-control method.

Conclusion

•   Family is an important institution in Israelàthe concept of family is respected by both the religious and secular society.

•   Jewish Israeli adolescents are faced w/ concerns including tour of duty in the militia, national preservation, and destiny of the Jewish people

•   Significant contributing factors to the low rate of teen pregnancy

–    family values that prohibit premarital sexual activites

–    low number of teens engaging in premarital sex

–    universal sex education

–    easy access to birth-control materials

Vietnam

•   Demographics

–   Southeast Asian country

–   Vietnam is the 12^th most populated country in the world

–   76.6 million consisting of 54 ethnic groups

Overview of Teen Pregnancy

•   the concept of teen pregnancy is rarely mentioned as a separate issue from overall high birth rate

•   it is normal for a 13 to 14 year old girls to get married

•   part of the culture

Social Views, Customs, Practices

•   Quality of life for many people continues to be marginal

•   Other related Problems:

–   high poverty rate

–   extensive use of child labor

–   Homelessness

–   Prostitution

• General Statistic Office says that 21,000 (10.5%) of all prostitutes are under 18 years old

Conclusion

•   The cycle of a high poverty rate along with extensive use of child labor is the direct result of Vietnam’s history of war.  Young boys are needed for their labor, while young girls are expected to produce children.

•   Long-range measures to prevent teen pregnancy:

–    Improve the condition and responsibility of families

–    Promote human values

–    Promote increase in the standard of living for all Vietnamese people

Test Questions:

1)      Explain the concept of adolescent pregnancy during the early colonial period.

2) List four complications that teen mothers may experience during pregnancy.

3) List four complications that children may experience due to teen pregnancy.

4) What are two cultural customs or practices that Brazil practices that contributes to teenage pregnancy?

5) List some contributing factors to the low rate of teen pregnancy in Israel.

Bibliography

Taking it Lying Down: Sexuality and Teenage Motherhood.  Macmillan Education Ltd. 1991.

Hardy, Janet B.  Adolescent pregnancy in an urban environment : issues, programs, and evaluation. Washington, DC: Urban Institute Press, 1991.

Vinovskis, Maris.  An “epidemic” of adolescent pregnancy?: some historical and policy considerations.  New York: Oxford University Press, 1988.

www.teenpregnancy.org

Adolescent, sexuality, pregnancy, and parenting: selected readings.  Child Welfare League of America, Inc., 1997.

Anastasiow, Nicholas J.  The Adolescent Parent.  Paul H. Brookes Publishing Co, Inc., 1982.

Teenage Pregnancy.  Center on Evaluation, Development, and Research.  Phi Delta Kappa.

Cherry, Andrew L.; Dillan, Mary E.; Rugh, Douglas.  Teenage Pregnancy: A Global View.  Greenwood Press; Wesport, Connecticut, 2001.