A Study Of Adolescent Sexuality & Pregnancy
Sexually active adolescents are at risk of pregnancy. 80 percent of adolescent mothers in
the United States are not yet married. Biological father is less likely to be supportive.
Pregnant teenage girls restraint personal growth, reduces personal income, academic achievement on average of three years, also less chances of employment and marriage. Pregnancy in teenage females, in most cases, is very stressful, and brings shame to them regarding to religions and cultural affects. "Termination of pregnancy is viewed as the least destructive alternative in a bad situation. The unintended pregnancy and abortion
themselves were more likely systematic of the patient's sense of abandonment" (Stotland,
1998). A teenage girl is also at risk of every complication of pregnancy and birth
including spontaneous abortion, high blood pressure, stillbirth, cesarean section, and a
low-birth weight baby, all because her uterus and overall body functioning are not yet
mature. In addition, the body must adjust to new hormones, add bone density, redistribute
weight, and grow taller. Pregnancy interferes with this, because the girl's body must
respond to another set of hormones and to the nutritional needs of another developing
person. Women who have given birth under age 16 tend to be shorter and sicker as
adults, and to die at younger ages, than other woman. "Despite abundant access to birth
control measures, the United States has one of the highest rates of adolescent pregnancy
in the western world, and 10 % of women become pregnant their high school years.
Adolescent pregnancy is even more prevalent among black (22.7%) and Native American (20%) youth, lower socioeconomic subgroups, and more chaotic family environments. In
addiction to dealing with the physical symptoms and body changes associated with
pregnancy, teenage girls have not yet completed their own...
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