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What Is Teenage Pregnancy?

Teenage pregnancy is when a woman under 20 gets pregnant. It usually refers to teens between the ages of 15-19. But it can include girls as young as 10. It's also called teen pregnancy or adolescent pregnancy.

In the U.S., teen birth rates and number of births to teen mothers have dropped steadily since 1990. In 2020, just over 158,000 infants were born to teens 15 to 19 years old, down 75 percent from 1991. That trend is driven both by the fact that fewer teenagers are having sex and that more of them use birth control when they do.

Even so, a much higher share of American teens get pregnant than girls in other developed countries. And the pace of the decline in teen pregnancy in the U.S. differs by race. Non-Hispanic Black girls and Native American girls have seen much slower drops in teen pregnancy compared to Asian American girls.

https://www.webmd.com/baby/teen-pregnancy-medical-risks-and-realities

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Strategies for Prevention and Overall Well-Being

Efforts are currently under way to explore strategies to reduce teen childbearing and its associated challenges for parents, children, and society. Research suggests that implementing evidence-based teen pregnancy prevention programs, expanding access to Medicaid family planning services and Title X clinics, and utilizing mass media campaigns to promote safer sex may reduce teen pregnancy and improve outcomes for youth who may be more likely to have a teen birth.

Additionally, the Affordable Care Act, passed in 2010, aims to improve access to recommended health care services for the entire population, including adolescents. The law expands health insurance coverage for adolescents, and offers new support for preventive services, innovative models of care, and clinical training, all of which have implications for teen pregnancy in the United States.¹The sections below provide specific strategies and approaches to preventing unintended pregnancy for adolescents, parents, health care providers, and

ommunities.

https://opa.hhs.gov/adolescent-health/adolescent-sexual-and-reproductive-health/strategies-prevention-and-overall-well#:~:text=For%20adolescents%20who%20are%20sexually,reduce%20chances%20of%20unwanted%20pregnancy.

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Worldwide, pregn ancy complications are the leading cause of death for women and girls 15 to 19 years old.[3] The definition of teenage pregnancy includes those who are legally considered adults in their country.[2] The World Health Organization defines adolescence as the period between the ages of 10 and 19 years.[6] Pregnancy can occur with sexual intercourse after the start of ovulation, which can happen before the first menstrual period (menarche).[7] In healthy, well-nourished girls, the first period usually takes place between the ages of 12 and 13.[8]

Pregnant teenagers face many of the same pregnancy-related issues as older women.[9][10] Teenagers are more likely to experience pregnancy complications or maternal death than women aged 20 or older. There are additional concerns for those under the age of 15 as they are less likely to be physically developed to sustain a healthy pregnancy or to give birth.[11] For girls aged 15–19, risks are associated more with socioeconomic factors than with the biological effects of age.[12] Risks of low birth weight, premature labor, anemia, and pre-eclampsia are not connected to biological age by the time a girl is aged 16, as they are not observed in births to older teens after controlling for other risk factors, such as access to high-quality prenatal care.[13][14]

Teenage pregnancies are related to social issues, including lower educational levels and poverty.[3] Teenage pregnancy in developed countries is usually outside of marriage and is often associated with a social stigma.[15] Teenage pregnancy in developing countries often occurs within marriage and approximately half are planned.[3] However, in these societies, early pregnancy may combine with malnutrition and poor health care to cause medical problems. When used in combination, educational interventions and access to birth control can reduce unintended teenage pregnancies.[4][16]

In 2023, globally, about 41 females per 1,000 gave birth between the ages of 15 and 19, compared with roughly 65 births per 1,000 in 2000.[17] From 2015 to 2021, an estimated 14 percent of adolescent girls and young women globally reported giving birth before age 18.[18] The adolescent birth rate is higher in lower- and middle-income countries (LMIC), compared to higher- income countries. In the developing world, approximately 2.5 million females aged 15 to 19 years old have children each year.[3] Another 3.9 million have abortions.[3] It is more common in rural than urban areas.[3]

In 2021, 13.3 million babies, or about 10 percent of the total worldwide, were born to mothers under 20 years old.[19]

https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Teenage_pregnancy

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The Dilemma of Teenage Parenthood

Teenage pregnancy and childbearing have for some years been regarded as difficult and grave problems for the United States. Although policies and programs have been developed to reduce the incidence of children having children, their combined impact has been minimal, and the rates of adolescent pregnancy and childbearing remain high. As the Center for Population Options noted in 1988, a cycle of poverty often begins with an unintended adolescent pregnancy. Teenage pregnancies do not occur in a vacuum. Too often they are the product of economic disadvantage and inadequate educational systems, of poor housing, family instability, and the emotional deprivation associated with it. Because the children of teenage mothers have an even slimmer chance of escaping these conditions, they, too, may become adolescent parents.

The reality of almost 1 million teenage pregnancies a year demonstrates that this country's social and economic systems are failing a substantial proportion of our young citizens and, in doing so, are helping to perpetuate and enlarge the number of poor and badly educated men and women.

This chapter outlines the extent of the dilemma and examines how the United States compares with other industrialized countries in levels of teenage pregnancy, births, and abortions. It discusses the economic and social costs of adolescent childbearing on young parents and their children and on the nation. Some promising new intervention programs to prevent teenage pregnancy are reviewed, and suggestions for research on additional solutions are made. Biomedical research on the onset of puberty may provide some solutions, but the majority of the answers must come from the social and behavioral sciences.

https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/books/NBK235276/#:~:text=Pregnant teenagers suffer more complications,prolonged labor, and premature labor.