Pregnant Teens

Today, the United States has the highest teenage pregnancy rate in the world. By the continuous effort of the Department of Health and Human Services (HHS), this rate has been considerably decreased in the last few years. Despite this decline, teenage pregnancy is one among the country's most critical issues.

Recent studies reveal that around 5% of teens - especially between 17 and 19 years of age - get pregnant every year. One in every eight births is to a young teen. Most of these cases end up in abortions. Apart from the personal impact, teen pregnancy can cause substantial financial burden to the society. Around 90% of the pregnant teens live on state benefits. The federal government offers approximately $7 billion annually to handle teenage pregnancy.

Teenage pregnancy can occur due to a number of factors - poverty, poor quality family relationships, lack of education, low-self esteem, negative outlook regarding the future, and non-voluntary sexual experiences.

In pregnant teens, the chances for complications are more. Premature delivery is the most severe issue. Low-weight-birth is 2 to 6 times more in teens. Toxemia, placenta previa, anemia, and pregnancy-induced hypertension are other related complications.

When compared to pregnant women, teens are more likely to engage in smoking, drinking, and drug abuse. This can adversely affect both mother's and baby's health. Further, most pregnant teens get poor antenatal care. Another problem is that most teens do not follow a proper diet and so will not gain adequate weight during pregnancy. Some teens even seem to counter the normal pregnancy weight by doing excess exercise. In both cases, the baby is at risk.

Children born to young teens often receive poor nutrition and health care. Most of them are exposed to neglect and abuse. It is estimated that around 22% of girls born to young teens become teenage mothers.

To stop out-of-wedlock teen pregnancies, many effective programs are conducted by HHS. These programs support abstinence education and also the use of contraception.