Pregnant Teenagers – Statistics vs. Facts

The truth is that there is nothing scarier than hearing your teenage daughter saying that she is pregnant. It is a fact that there are more and more pregnant teenagers even though there are a lot of campaigns that are meant to make people more aware about the risks associated with being sexually active.

Facts regarding teenage pregnancy

According to official statistics, about 10% of all new mothers in 2006 were teenagers. About 67% of the teenagers were 18 or 19. Nonetheless the pregnancy rate among teenagers suffered a drop by 40% between 1990 and 2000. Still in 2005 there were more than 700,000 pregnant teenagers.

Pregnant TeenagersNaturally not every pregnant teen gives birth. In 2005 of the 700,000 teens only 400,000 gave birth. Some people say that about 30% of all teenagers get pregnant at least once before they turn 20. The teenage birth rate also increased in 2006 and 2007.

When it comes to the matter of pregnant teenager it is interesting to know that about 25% of the teen mothers who give birth before the age of 18 have a second child within two years. Girls in their teenage years have higher chances of having a baby born prematurely than the mothers in their 20s.

Health

In some cases the teenager expectant mothers have to make lifestyle adjustments in order to make sure that they will have healthy babies. It is a known fact that the baby could have health problems if the mother is smoking, drinking, eating fast food or using different kinds of drugs.

The expectant mothers who are teenagers have higher chances of continuing smoking during pregnancy than mothers in their 20s. The babies of these mothers can be born prematurely, be affected by sudden infant death syndrome, and low birth weight. These women also have higher risks of pregnancy complications.

The pregnant teenagers are less likely to receive proper prenatal care. In the same time these girls have higher chances of being affected by different kinds of pregnancy complications, such as anemia, premature labor or high blood pressure. The girls under 15 are in even greater danger.

We also have to think about the STIs when considering teen expectant mothers. There are 19 million people affected each year, and 9 million of them are teens. The STIs contracted include chlamydia, syphilis and HIV that is known to turn into AIDS and that has no available cure at this moment.

Baby facts

The babies of the expectant mothers who are teens have higher chances of being born prematurely. In this case it is possible that their organs aren’t fully developed yet. Because of this they could have problems with breathing, bleeding in the brain, intestinal problems and sight problems.

In order to be able to handle a pregnant teenager the most important thing that parents have to think about is that the girl needs support. They should try not to judge her and not to scare her. They must comfort her saying that everything will be alright. This way she will be able to make the right choice.

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