Nursing Implication for Teenage Pregnancy - Essay Example

Nursing Implications for Teenage Pregnancy of Central Florida February 26, Teenage pregnancy is a nightmare worldwide. United States is having the highest incidence of teen pregnancy though the rate is declining everywhere. Probably ongoing sex education and improved accessibility to condoms have helped getting it down.Nowdays more options are available to pregnant teen .She can either raise the child or plan adoption or foster care otherwise. Government is also supportive in such cases and is trying to reduce burden from teens by providing them quick healthcare access, childcare facility etc at very subsidized rates. Many government funded organizations are trying harder to create awareness among the youth in order to prevent incidences of unplanned pregnancies and further consequences. Young parents and kids usually have severe impact in their lives sacrificing education, career and most importantly health. This essay gives detail information regarding statistical facts of teen pregnancy state wise information along with the implication of nursing. Teen can also have healthy pregnancy, if she is able to detect pregnancy on time and receive pre and post natal care promptly. Importance of prenatal and postnatal care education is understood in the essay as in teen pregnancy cases chances of getting preterm labor with low birth weight babies are higher. Young mothers are provided with genuine support by healthcare system along with parental classes and counseling to reduce the burden from their delicate mind set. Nursing Implications for Teenage Pregnancy Introduction Parenting is a tough task for every individual and it is indeed very difficult if the parents are teenagers. Teenage pregnancy has become a major issue of concern for almost all the western countries. Incidences of teen pregnancy are rising in United States too and teens are battling to establish child friendly situations in their lives. Teens are not the only sufferer but their children also face frequent health problems in future. These pregnancies are usually unplanned and are not pleasant phenomena to the society hence teens have to go through immense social pressure and emotional outbreaks apart from physiological changes occurring in their body. Pregnant adolescents usually have higher risks of preterm labor associated with low birth weight and many other developmental anomalies. Hence they require close monitoring throughout their antenatal period. Healthy pregnancy demands good prenatal care, proper nutrition, exercise, multivitamins and most importantly no bad habits such as cigarettes, alcohol or drugs whatsoever. Timely medical attention has immense value in teen’s pregnancy. Obstetrician will have frequent follow ups with the patient monitoring the growth of the baby.Recent scenario suggests that more young mothers prefer to keep the baby than going for adoption or foster care. They are supported by many organizations that provide information to teens regarding healthy parenting and their responsibilities etc. Teenage Pregnancy According to the March of Dimes, teen pregnancy is one of the most critical issues facing America today. The explosion of out-of-wedlock teen births is a crisis that threatens to undermine the nation. Each year, one million American teenagers become pregnant. 175,000 give birth to their first child. As a result, the United States now has the highest teen pregnancy rate in the Western World. (2008). Center for Disease Control and Prevention also stated that, “In U.S. teen pregnancy and birth, sexually transmitted diseases (STDs), and abortion rates are substantially higher than those of other western industrialized nations”. (2011) Statistical Data of Teenage Pregnancy Teen pregnancy costs the United States at least $7 billion annually. Following data is really distressing (Boen, 2008), Every year approximately 750,000 teenagers get pregnant.  Teenage birth rates are incredibly different statewide. Nevada has the highest rate: 113 per 1000 and North Dakota the lowest 42 per 1000.  Unmarried teenagers having children account for 24 % of all unmarried expectant mothers.  The United States has the most teen mothers, followed by Russia and New Zealand. (Monti,2006) Demonstration of birth rates by state per 1,000 girls aged 15-19 years in 2009 SOURCE: National Center for Health Statistics; 2009. Teen birth rates were lowest in Northeast & upper Midwest and highest across southern states. Teen Pregnancy prevention programmes Teen Pregnancy is a nightmare to the nation. More than 2/3 of all teenagers who have a baby will skip studies. Billions of dollars are spent taking care of teenage mothers and children and they are more likely to be in the poverty bracket. On the flip side, millions of dollars are spent in prevention and awareness programs too. "Theres a real need for this because a lot of teens who are pregnant or who have just given birth live in very precarious and unsafe situations with no support at all," Dr. Davies said in an interview (2010). He also added that, “The shelter will teach new mothers aged 19 and under everything from how to cook nutritious meals to how to look after the baby. It may even offer help to allow the young mother to go back to school” (2010). Center for Disease Control and Prevention has also given teen pregnancy issue a highest priority. Lot of youth awareness campaigns is being conducted in order to educate young generation. They mainly focus on following topics (Centre for Disease Control and Health, 2011) The reproductive systems and their function, Sex education Pregnancy and consequences and risks associated with sexually transmitted diseases, Protection measures such as contraceptives,condoms, abstinence etc Effects of Delayed Prenatal Care It is observed that teen moms fail to seek medical advice even after detection of pregnancy. Due to lack of maturity, knowledge, poor diet and fear of society, they lose out crucial period when baby needs maximum nutrition. They also fail to gain adequate weight and usually tend to have premature delivery and low birth weight baby. These babies will have to suffer from various complications such as birth defects, underdeveloped vital organs, some complications like internal bleeding, respiratory distress syndrome, and gastrointestinal trouble. (World Health Organization, 2007) According to the 2008 Kids Count Data Book (Davis, 2010)released today by the nonprofit Annie E. Casey Foundation in Baltimore, which advocates for disadvantaged children. Babies weighing less than 5.5 pounds are being born at rates unparalleled since the 1960s, in both Indiana and the United States. In Allen County almost 9 % of babies born in 2005 were low birth weight, just above the statewide average of 8.3 percent. Researchers have also found a link between low socioeconomic status and teen births with higher rates of low birth weight and premature births, said Sally Edington, executive director of Healthier Moms & Babies. But other factors are at play today, including multiple births and older mothers. Births to teenage moms are steadily declining nationally and in Indiana (Boen, 2008). In 2005, 66 % pregnancies of multiple babies in Indiana resulted in premature birth compared with an 8.5 rate of premature births among single babies. "But the highest incident of preterm deliveries is in women over 40, followed by women under 20," Edington said, citing data from the March of Dimes. Children born to teen mothers will usually suffer from, Lack of proper nutrition, developmental delay and cognitive and social stimulation resulting in poor academic achievement in future. Boys born to teenage mothers are 13% more likely to be incarcerated later in life. Girls born to teenage mothers are 22% more likely to become teenage mothers themselves. According to Pebbles (2005), We are seeing higher rates of multiple births, caesarean sections, low birth weight babies, higher premature baby rates. We have normal distribution of moderate and high risk births, although there is a higher number of teenage moms and of smoking moms than the rest of the health authoritys region. Access to Healthcare Prenatal Care Prenatal Care is considered to be the most crucial period of pregnancy. Moreover teenager moms need additional attention as their body is not fully developed to have pregnancy load. Lack of sufficient prenatal monitoring can induce major health defects in the baby and can also cause deranged maternal health as mentioned earlier. Regular screening is essential along with psychological support which is needed the most in teens. Medicos also describe delivery process and post natal care including breast feeding, vaccination and ask them to quit smoking and other addictions to the patients (World Health Organization, 2007) Referral Services There are many such programs conducted by several organizations for new moms to have a healthy start of life. When infants are born with low birth weight, it is important to get the infant on track by supplying proper nutrition for the body to grow. Teens and women from the targeted population are involved in establishing and evolving such program over several years. They emphasized on healthy diet during pregnancy, importance of breast feeding by virtue of which it is seen that more and more females have now recommended breastfeeding. There is a significant reduction in low birth weight babies. New moms are motivated to develop loving bond with their child. They are taught the importance of nutritious food for their babies. (Monti, 2006). Follow up with Teen Mom Parenting Class First of all, it is very important for new parents to understand what is parenting, what duties come along with it. Such Parenting classes help teen parents to learn their role as parents. They gain information about feeding techniques, how to deal with emergency situations without anyone around, how to develop bond with the baby. What measures are to be taken for healthy growth of the child etc? Such classes are available online too where all teen parents can have access. Such type of educational classes not only helps to reduce parental anxiety but also provide useful information related their role. Family Planning Jennifer Manlove, Suzanne Ryan, and Kerry Franzetta from the organization, Child Trends, published research in the journal, Demography ( 2007), that analyzed data from high school students to help identify patterns of contraceptive use. Key findings from this study reveal: Many teens use contraception inconsistently. In fact, in 4 out of 10 relationships, teens inconsistently used contraception or never used any birth control at all. Teens continue habits from previous relationships. Those who consistently used birth control in a previous relationship are more likely to do so in a current one. This implies that teens may learn from their relationship experiences. Female teens who discuss contraception with their partners before sex are twice as likely to practice safe sex. In fact, 62% of female teens and 51% of male teens who discussed Birth control with their partners before having sex for the first time reported always using Contraception. Teens who engage in a high number of relationships are less likely to use Contraceptives consistently. Hence, Pregnancy prevention programs pay more attention to the ‘importance of partners and relationships in teenagers’ and sexual decision making. Even birth control advocacy programme consider integrating the multiple dimensions of sexual relationships and help teens to learn how to negotiate contraceptive use with their partners. Those teenagers who have experience practicing how to say no to unprotected sex and have the skills for negotiating contraceptive use in different relationships and with various types of sexual partners may be better equipped to protect themselves against unintended pregnancy and/or STDs. Newborn Care Newborn baby needs full attention in terms of feeding, bathing and sleep etc. They need frequent immunization against life threatening diseases. It is a moral duty of all the parents to give their baby love affection and to produce child friendly and safe environment. New parents must know when to seek medical care in cases like excessive crying, disturbed sleep pattern, irregular feeds, signs of infection etc. (Hwang, 1999) Well Child Exam In the early stage of newborn life the new parents will have to visit “Well Child Clinics” more often to have routine checkups of height, weight, head circumference and body temperature etc. Babies born to adolescent parents are like to have developmental problems and they indeed need frequent assessments. These checkups include hearing test, vision test and also blood tests sometimes. The set up provides information regarding vaccination schedules; discuss the feeding related issues with anxious parents. (Mannheim, 2012) Child Care Many of the teen parents lack in funds to give better resources to newborn. Some have to resume their studies as soon as possible. Some decide to take up a job to support the child. Hence US government provides helps such parents by providing childcare facilities on subsidized rates to teen parents. Also, many institutes are offering expert caregivers to the babies for teen moms. In few states, there are some school based child care centers where teen mom can attend studies while attending her baby whenever required. Conclusion Parenting is a life time experience. It requires lot of strength and patience. Teen parents have to bear extra stress due to their age factor and this whole experience would have a solid impression in their upcoming life. Along with the sour experiences teens will have to sacrifice lot of things while raising the child. Although the rate of teen pregnancy is definitely declining but the situations that result in teen pregnancies are still very prominent. Government is treating this issue on the highest priority basis by creating awareness about protection measures. And it is also supporting current young parents by providing them low cost medical setup and children support system. Let us hope to have great success against this battle to have bright and healthy generation ahead. References American Journal of Maternal Children Nursing, 1034-5. Bartlett, R., Davis, D. H., & Belyea, M. (2007). Problem behaviors in adolescents: Implications for nursing practice. (33 ed., Vol. 1, pp. 13-18). Pediatric Nursing. Bastable, S. B. (2008). Nurse as educator: principles of teaching and learning for nursing practice. Canada, CA: Jones & Bartlett. Boen, J. L. (2008). More born at low weight: Rates are rising, Allen County is raising average. Washington McClatchy. Center for Disease Control and Health. (2011, April 21). About teen pregnancy. Retrieved from http://www.cdc.gov/TeenPregnancy/AboutTeenPreg.htm Davis, S. (2010). Teen Pregnancy rising: Health St. John County has highest rate in Province. Providence: New Advisory Council report. Harris, A. (2009, July 20). CDC reports bad news about teens and sex. World Community. Retrieved from http://online.worldmag.com/2009/07/20/cdc-reports-bad-news-about-teens-and-sex/ Hwang, M. (1999). Caring for a newborn baby. The Journal of the American Medical Association, 282(12), Retrieved from http://jama.ama-assn.org/content/282/12/1200.full.pdf Mannheim, J. K. (2012).Well child visits. The U.S. National Library of Medicine, U.S Department of Health and Human Services. Retrieved from website: http://www.nlm.nih.gov/medlineplus/ency/article/001928.htm Monti, D. (2006). Community Nutrition Outreach Programs help babies have a healthy start. International Journal of Childbirth Education, 82. National Center for Health Statistics. (Producer). (2009). Teen birth rates: state info. [Web Map]. Retrieved from http://www.cdc.gov/vitalsigns/TeenPregnancy/StateInfo.html Norris, J. H.-C. (2009). working with teen moms and babies at risk: The power of partnering. MCN: Pebbles, F. (2005, Nov). Prince George Citizens. Prince George, B.C. Reynolds, K. (2005). Healthy pregnancy and risky behaviors among pregnant teens. Midwest Nursing Research Society, n.pg. Smith-Battle, L. (2006). Teenage mothers and their teen childrens fertility: What goes around comes around? Midwest Nursing Research Society, n.pg. World Health Organization. (2007). Adolescent pregnancy. WHO Discussion papers on Adolescence, 34. Retrieved from http://whqlibdoc.who.int/publications/2007/9789241595650_eng.pdf Read More