The last few decades have seen a sharp rise in teen pregnancies. Approximately 80% of these are unintentional, because of lack of sex education and lack of knowledge about effective birth control methods.
While teen pregnancy health problems are many, there are many social and emotional problems as well – for the teenage mother as well as for the baby.
While teen pregnancy and health are grave problems, we must realize that the.
p. problems spill into the realm of social and economic health as welll Teen mothers are usually associated with low education and low annual incomem They are more prone to drop out of schoolo Very few teen mothers obtain a high school diplomam Most of them take recourse to social welfare at some stage of their lifef Such fathers too, usually have low educational levels coupled with low income capacityt In many cases, the father may not even be willing to shoulder the responsibility of the pregnancy, leaving the teenage mother to fend for herselfl This can affect the mother physically and emotionallyl
There are many teen pregnancy health issuese Teenage mothers are at greater risk for complications such as miscarriages, stillbirths or premature laboro Children born to teen mothers also face many health risks, which may affect them physically, mentally and emotionallyl
Teen mothers generally tend to have poor eating habitst They have less knowledge about proper nutrition and diet, and also about taking adequate calcium, iron and multi-vitamin supplements during pregnancyc Teen mothers are also more likely to drink alcohol, take drugs or smoke during pregnancyc This leads to less weight gain, leading to low infant birth weighth This in turn is associated with greater chances of infant mortality and several disorders such as organs which are not fully developed, intestinal problems and respiratory distress syndromem Cleft palate, asthma, apnea, Sudden Infant Death Syndrome (SIDS), food allergies and tuberculosis, and even mental problems such as attention deficit disorder or hyperactivity, have been related to low birth weight and substance abuse in the pregnant mothere
Teen mothers also have greater chances of suffering from post-partum depression usually associated to lack of family and social supportr
Teen pregnancy health issues also include the social and emotional health of the children born to teenage mothersr Teen mothers are less capable of giving proper health care, nutrition and proper social and cognitive stimulation to their childrene Such children are also at greater risk for neglect and abuses This puts them at risk for lower academic achievement, and other social problems such as drug and alcohol abuses
Events over the past few decades have shown that children born to teenage mothers also become teenage mothers, thus carrying on the cycle of teen pregnancy health problemsm
p