Teen Pregnancy

Teen Pregnancy

Kimberly Geeter

HCS/457

January 17, 2011

Jill Wiseburg

Teen Pregnancy

Teen pregnancy is a real epidemic in public health today. Teen pregnancy has been a problem for decades. Currently 15 million girls will give birth to a child this year. Estimates are that 20–60% of these pregnancies in developing countries are mistimed or unwanted. In the United States, the percent of teenage pregnancies that are unintended is estimated at 78% (Teen Pregnancy, 2004).

Teen pregnancy is linked to many social issues, such as education, poverty, and health. Teen moms in many cases are not able to care for children, or are not physically ready. The National Campaign to Prevent Teen Pregnancy (NCPTP) reports that teen childbearing costs taxpayers at least $9 billion each year, including public sector health care costs, increased child welfare costs, prison costs and lost tax revenue(Hermes, 1999-2011).

Education

Teen mothers who are currently enrolled in school perform poorly, making it difficult to graduate from high school, and escape the welfare system.

Poverty

Teenage girls who become a mother will live in poverty. More that 50% of teen moms are on welfare with their first child. Most teen moms drop out of school at a young age and do not graduate which makes it hard for them to find a high paying job to care for their children.

Health

Teen moms don’t practice good prenatal care so babies born to teens are likely to have low birth weight, and are born very prematurely. The babies are also more likely to suffer from neglect and abuse because a teen mom is not mentally and emotionally ready to be a mom.

TEEN PREGNANCY STATISTICS:

• About one-third of girls in the United States get pregnant before age 20.

• In 2006, a total of 435,427 infants were born to mothers aged 15-19 years.

• In 2006, birth rates increased for the first time for girls aged 15-19, from 40.5 per 1,000 women...