Teenage pregnancy, besides giving birth to a child, gives birth to numerous problems. Both the unborn baby and the mother face a world which they are not prepared for and social and emotional problems are bound to bother them for a long period of time.
Moreover, teenage pregnancy, in many cases, ends up with premature labor and other pregnancy complications. Since the US is the leading country in teenage pregnancy, the level of awareness needs to be raised and teenagers need to know what they are doing and facing once they end up with a child before they are capable of managing this.
The Past and The Present
Teenage pregnancy was quite a common scenario in the past. Namely, during the 80s, many teenage girls ended up pregnant before their 20s and gave birth to children. However, the times were different and these girls were, in most cases, already married, getting the necessary support from their parents and the husband. Today, however, most teenage pregnancies take place during long or short-term relationships or involuntarily sexual intercourse. Thus, teenage girls who get pregnant face rejection and are forced to manage the pregnancy on their own, usually failing to do this successfully.
The Emotional Aspects
Teenage mothers usually do not get to finish their education. Moreover, only 1.5% of teenage mothers manage to get a college degree. The less fortunate majority ends up drinking or using drugs, or getting abused, rejected or cast away by their family, lovers and friends.
Naturally, teenage mothers feel captured between their motherhood and childhood, not managing to cope with the pressure. Subsequently, they end up being suicidal or having an abortion in many cases.
The Physical Aspects
As for the babies, having a teenage mother means having greater chances of being prematurely born, or born with health problems. Teenage mothers contribute to this negativity by consuming unhealthy substances and gaining weight, as well as by being affected by excessive stress. Many of these babies are born with a body weight lower than optimal. This leads to death, organ damage and problems as well as vision, respiratory and many other issues.
Finally, in many cases, people born from teenage pregnancies face a shorter life expectancy.
Other Negative Aspects of Teenage Pregnancy
Taking into consideration that these mothers drop out from school and get cast away by their families and supporters, they usually face terrible financial difficulties in times when they need all the money they can get.
Lacking the necessary education, these mothers are incapable of finding a decent, well-paid job, providing for their child. So, they end up struggling, living on welfare, unable to give their child what he/she needs. Combine all these problems with facts that these teenage mothers are unmarried in 80% of cases, staying pregnant after their first sexual intercourse, which was, most commonly, against their will and you get a grim life scenario for both the mother and the child.
Your thoughts on this
Loading...