Teenage pregnancy occurs in all societies, but the level of teenage pregnancy and childbearing varies from one place to another. The lack of information, program implementations, and collaboration with non-governmental organizations are seen to be the root problem in many countries. There is no proper sex education and proper programs to tackle the increased influx of teenage pregnancies.
Ratib(2001) describes how the reproductive pattern in Saudi Arabia is characterized by pregnancies starting at an early age. In Western countries, adequate family planning is considered a beneficial factor for the health of the mother and the child. Saudi Arabia is one of the countries where child spacing is not usually practiced, thus resulting in a high birth rate. Low maternal age has been found to increase the risk of a number of pregnancy complications, pre-term delivery, low birth rate, and elevated risk of prenatal and infant mortality. Women in their early teenage years are still growing and likely to be more physically immature than women in their late twenties. Adolescents and their children represent a population with an increased risk for medical and educational problems.
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Women who start childbearing in their teenage years face a variety of problems during pregnancy and later in their lives. They have poor obstetrics and neonatal outcomes, lower educational achievement, and higher rates of poverty and welfare dependence. Even their children perform less well than children of other mothers on intelligence and vocabulary testing. Teenage kids are more like to have behavioural problems and fail at school. This study showed how adolescents in Saudi Arabia are multiparous when compared to for example Ireland. It illustrated how the teenage fertility rate in Sweden is the lowest in Europe and it can be seen due to the fact that major school reforms in sex education were revised, contraception services were improved and abortion was provided free and on demand.
Poor obstetrics outcomes owing to the teenager’s biological immaturity and inadequate mothering are consistent in all the studies. Maclad (2001) illustrates how the research that was conducted in South Africa has been framed by questions and methods dominating the early literature from developed countries that preceded it. Adolescent immaturity is invoked to explain why teenagers conceive; reproductive ignorance, risk-taking behavior, and giving in to peer pressure. In order to speak about teenage pregnancy, adolescents need to be accepted as a separate stage of development, as an identifiable phase in the life span of a human during which the adolescent is no longer a child but an adult.
Moreover, factors like media, are also mentioned to be influential factors in the adolescent’s sexual behavior. According to Honig (2012), media promotes teen sexuality. Television and magazines illustrating well-known pregnant teens, influence adolescents to engage in sexual activity. Some teens may decide to get pregnant so they can drop out of school. Changes in media emphasis on sexuality may not be feasible but teachers can be the tool to awaken youths about the understanding of teen television, or about Facebook and other electronic communication made to glamorize promiscuous sexuality. Honig also explains how the problem of teen pregnancy is high among developed nations. The highest teen rate pregnancies are in the United Kingdom and in the United States of America whereas the lowest rates are found to be in Japan and South Korea. In the United Kingdom, poverty is a prominent factor whereas in the United States, most teen pregnancies are unplanned, mostly being raped by armed aggressors.
According to Goonewardene (2001), in Sri Lanka, the number of teenagers becoming pregnant is steadily high. Adolescents who become pregnant are bound to carry a higher risk of complications, such as a high risk of cervical cancer later on in their lives. Physiological implications are of greater concern, even to much older teenagers. Preventions should be there to help teenage pregnancies decrease. Again here sex education is emphasized and community intervention programs are mentioned. These programs should focus on adolescents by combining general access to contraception for all teenagers. This is also seen in the study performed in the Philippines where teenage pregnancies are seen as an eye-opener to public awareness and planning implementation. Sex curriculum should be incorporated in the education system as early as possible, to prevent the detrimental effects of teenage pregnancies. The government in partnership with the different non-governmental agencies should exert efforts in resolving this issue.
To conclude, adolescents who have too early pregnancies, result in severe damage to sexual and internal organs. Ignorance of effective contraceptives leads to teen pregnancy. The introduction to Planned Parenthood sessions by counselors in schools and outreach work in classes to discuss the prevention of sexually transmitted diseases and to discuss options for unwanted teen pregnancies. It is important to promote awareness, understanding, and dialogues in schools to carry out work with adolescents.
References:
- Jorm, A. F., Wright, A., & Morgan, A. J. (2007). Where to seek help for a mental disorder? the national survey of the beliefs of Australian youth and their parents. Medical Journal of Australia, 187(10), 556.
- Kelly, C. M., Jorm, A. F., & Wright, A. (2007). Improving mental health literacy as a strategy to facilitate early intervention for mental disorders. Medical Journal of Australia, 187(7), S26. https://www.researchgate.net/publication/305817556_Youth_mental_health_context_in_Romania
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