Adolescent pregnancy - Assignment Example

Adolescent pregnancy affiliation Adolescence pregnancy can be defined as an intended pregnancy during the teenage, usually between 15-19 years. In US, there are more than million girls become pregnant annually, and only 13% of those pregnancies are planned. Teenage pregnancy has been linked to socioeconomic problems that surround the teenagers and the society (Chuang, Santelli, & Soren, 2011). Peer pressure has been blamed to be a major factor that lead several girls to indulge in sexual activities.

On several occasions, the teenage girls let their peer friends to influence their decision of playing sex without fully understanding the consequences. The ultimate result is usually unplanned pregnancy at teenage age. Lack of proper guidance from parents or caretakers is a factor that leads to teenage pregnancy. This is because such teenagers require support and appropriate guidance during their adolescence stage (Macleod, 2003). Teenage pregnancy carries with itself colossal amount of health risk to the baby, mother and the society.

According to WHO, pregnancy and childbirth related complications are the second causes of death among teenagers globally. Some of the risks that teenage pregnancy pose to the baby include delivery of low birth weight babies that predispose them to lifelong conditions, reduced developmental milestone leading to intellectual and socio-emotional delays. The risk to the mother includes school dropout, abortions, psychological problems like depression, low self-esteem because she feels neglected by the peers.

She can as well have medical complications during delivery because of inadequate and immature pelvis. Teenage pregnancy risk to the society include influence on other younger girls who may see it as a fashion and try it, burden to the maternal child health clinic, reduced economic output since they are not working and drop out of school (Crittenden, Boris, Rice, Taylor, & Olds, 2009). The Maryland family planning health programme is involved in prevention of teen pregnancies. The programme funds young adult and teen pregnancy prevention.

This programme aims to reach several youths who are at risk of being pregnant. Its main theme is advocating abstinence and offering tools that help to delay sexual activity and unplanned pregnancies. The national support centre for state teens is involved in youth activism by critically putting in place policies that address teen pregnancies. They support and strengthen the states capacity to stop teenage pregnancy and sexually transmitted infections. They offer services like consultancy, informative publications and outreach events to the youths.

The state of New Mexico has a teen pregnancy of 80 pregnancies per 1000 teenagers. However, it is imperative to note that the teen pregnancy has been on the decline. The study showed that the teen pregnancy reduced by more than 50% in the last ten years among the Hispanic, black and white. However, the rate of pregnancy among the black and Hispanic remained twice higher than the rate for whites. The overall reduction in teen pregnancy can be associated with an increased knowledge on pregnancy prevention like contraceptive use and provision of teen-friendly sexual and reproductive services.

There was an introduction of evidenced based teenage pregnancy prevention programme (Philliber, et al., 2003).Reference Chuang, J., Santelli, J., & Soren, K. (2011). Pregnancy in Adolescence. In Encyclopedia of Adolescence (Vol. 3, pp. 231–236). Crittenden, C. P., Boris, N. W., Rice, J. C., Taylor, C. A., & Olds, D. L. (2009). The Role of Mental Health Factors, Behavioral Factors, and Past Experiences in the Prediction of Rapid Repeat Pregnancy in Adolescence. Journal of Adolescent Health, 44, 25–32.

Macleod, C. (2003). Teenage Pregnancy and the Construction of Adolescence: Scientific Literature in South Africa. Childhood. Philliber, S., Brooks, L., Lehrer, L. P., Oakley, M., & Waggoner, S. (2003). Outcomes of teen parenting programs in New Mexico. Adolescence.