Risk Factors Associated with Adolescent Pregnancy - Essay Example

"Risk Factors Associated with Adolescent Pregnancy" is a decent example of a paper on pregnancy.
Across the United States, adolescent pregnancy has been a problem for many years. On an annual basis, numerous teenagers have been reported to have given birth or sought prenatal care. The United States has a high level of teenage pregnancy compared to other developed countries such as Canada and the United Kingdom. Marnach, Long & Casey (2013) define teenage pregnancy as an instance of motherhood for women below the age of twenty. The authors further cite that one out of ten pregnant mothers in the United States is below the age of twenty (Marnach, Long & Casey, 2013). The number is more prevalent in girls ages 18 and 19.     

There are numerous risk factors associated with adolescent pregnancy. Martin et.al (2013) cites economic constraint as one risk factor. The cost of prenatal and postnatal is relatively high. If an adolescent is pregnant while not married, they have to seek alternative sources of finance. The situation is worse if they are from the middle or lower class. Social risk factors could also be developed. For instance, education progress is distorted. In addition, the girl may not fit inappropriate social circles due to social stigma (Marnach, Long & Casey, 2013). From a medical perspective, mother of below the age of 15 has a high probability of having obstetrics complications. For older girls, they face the risk of premature labor, anemia, low-weight infant, and pre-eclampsia.

The government has, however, reacted significantly to avert the worrying trend. State and national resources have been allocated to develop strategies that minimize the occurrence of teenage pregnancy. For instance, the creation of the National Support Centre for State Teen Pregnancy Prevention Organizations was prompted by the need to prevent teenage pregnancy. The body operates with the objective that; by 2020, all states will have an effective institution that operates on science-based intervention to prevent teen pregnancy. The Center for Disease Control and Prevention developed the Teenage Pregnancy Prevention 2010-2015 program. The program aims at developing community and state-based organizations to tackle the problem of teenage pregnancy (Marnach, Long & Casey, 2013).

Statistics on teenage pregnancy in 2013 showed that 26.6% of every 1000 births were by women between 15 and 19 years (Martin et.al, 2013). The date is, however, a drop from the 29.4% recorded in 2012. This is a significant drop from 61.8% recorded in 1991. In 2004, the percentage of teenage pregnancy in 1000 cases was 40.5% (Martin et.al, 2013). From this data, it is an accurate conclusion that there is a decrease in teenage pregnancy.  

The most effective reason for the decrease in teenage pregnancy is contraception. In an argument by Sifferlin (2014) teenagers have been provided with numerous contraception options. The author further points out that the increase in the ease of access to contraceptives has improved the level of use. The availability of contraception has been supplemented by efficient sex education. Sifferlin (2014) asserts that modern-day sex education has shifted from creating awareness on the risks of early sex to awareness of the benefits of having safe sex.