Essay on Dealing With Teen Pregnancy: Risks and Responsibilities

Teenage pregnancy is an essential topic that needs to deal with urgently. This is because there are health risks that are associated for babies born to adolescent mother and there is high likelihood of to suffer, emotional, social, economic and health problems than kids born to better mothers (Gunaratne, Masinter, Kolak, & Feinglass, 2015). The main issue is that the older mother is mature and financially stable. Moreover, teenagers who get pregnant while young there is a higher risk of having medical complications which may include social consequences and premature labor (Wall-Wieler, Roos, & Nickel, 2016). The rate of teenage pregnancy might be having reduced, but it is still high as about one million teenage pregnancies are reported in the United States each year.

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Some of the consequences of teenage pregnancies include teen pregnancies re mainly associated with low annual income parents. About 60% percent of adolescent pregnancies are from low incomes meaning the teenage mother will be dependent on their guardians. Consequently, the teen mother will likely drop out of schools (Menon, Kusanthan, Mwaba, Juanola, & Kok, 2018). Most of the adolescent pregnancies reported are for teens between 15 and 18 years (Hall, Beauregard, Rentmeester, Livingston, & Harris, 2018). Most of them are supposed to be in school studying. When they get pregnant, they will have to drop school to take care of the newborn.

Similarly, teen pregnancies are associated with substance abuse and alcohol abuse, reduced earning potential in teen fathers, and lower educational level. Additionally, the cost of teenage pregnancy s results in a loss in tax revenues, child health care, public assistance, and foster. Such cost in the united states is more than $7billion per year (Samano et al., 2017). Therefore, it is important the issue of teenage pregnancies is considered, and policies are formulated to prevent and reduce teen pregnancy.

References

Gunaratne, S., Masinter, L., Kolak, M., & Feinglass, J. (2015). Change in Population Characteristics and Teen Birth Rates in 77 Community Areas: Chicago, Illinois, 1999-2009. Public health reports (Washington, D.C. : 1974), 130(4), 372-379. doi:10.1177/003335491513000416

Hall, K. S., Beauregard, J. L., Rentmeester, S. T., Livingston, M., & Harris, K. M. (2018). Adverse life experiences and risk of unintended pregnancy in adolescence and early adulthood: Implications for toxic stress and reproductive health. SSM - population health, 7, 100344. doi:10.1016/j.ssmph.2018.100344

Menon, J. A., Kusanthan, T., Mwaba, S., Juanola, L., & Kok, M. C. (2018). 'Ring' your future, without changing diaper - Can preventing teenage pregnancy address child marriage in Zambia?. PloS one, 13(10), e0205523. doi:10.1371/journal.pone.0205523

Samano, R., Martinez-Rojano, H., Robichaux, D., Rodriguez-Ventura, A. L., Sanchez-Jimenez, B., de la Luz Hoyuela, M., ... Segovia, S. (2017). Family context and individual situation of teens before, during and after pregnancy in Mexico City. BMC pregnancy and childbirth, 17(1), 382. doi:10.1186/s12884-017-1570-7

Wall-Wieler, E., Roos, L. L., & Nickel, N. C. (2016). Teenage pregnancy: the impact of maternal adolescent childbearing and older sister's teenage pregnancy on a younger sister. BMC pregnancy and childbirth, 16(1), 120. doi:10.1186/s12884-016-0911-2