Adolescence is a stage of growth and development, with the acquisition of new functions in the biological, psychological and social spheres. These changes do not count simultaneously, being the reproductive capacity the first event that occurs. They are functions of adulthood, motherhood and fatherhood, regardless of how long or what are the characteristics of adolescence in each culture. Because of this asynchrony in the maturation of the different areas (biological, psychic and social), a teenager has the possibility of becoming pregnant without having yet fulfilled the adolescent's tasks to reach adulthood. The frequency of this condition varies, ranging from 1.9% of all births in developed countries to 26%, in some other countries such as south American countries, reaching even higher proportions when analyzing data in rural areas. The global fertility rate decreased between 1970 and the year 2000 from 6.0 to 3.0; However, the births that occurred in women under 20 years of age represented 17.1% of the total births in 1995 and contributed 13.6% of the General Fertility Rate per woman, a percentage that has increased alarmingly in recent years. A pregnancy in adolescence generates changes in the young person, in the young person and in those who surround them; can be presented from a family drama by adapting to the new situation, to the transformation in a substantial way of the whole panorama. This, like other circumstances, can turn it into a dynamic and very complex event. Since the 70s, various strategies have been applied to prevent pregnancy in adolescents; despite this, it has increased along with indicators of maternal and perinatal morbidity and mortality, among other consequences.
Teen Pregnancy
Teenage pregnancy in the United States is social and medical issue more than 80% of pregnancies were unattended across the country (Boonstra, 2014). About 60% of the teenage pregnancies resulted in child birth; 30% girls went to abortion and 10% ended in miscarriage (Boonstra, 2014). Most of the teenage pregnant girls have age ranges from 14 to 20 and 76% of pregnant teens have age above than 18 years (Boonstra, 2014). Less than 1% of teenage pregnant girls have age of about 14 to 15 years. Ethnic basis is also important to consider; teenage pregnancy cases are more common in Hispanic black and native American people that is 12% and the non-native American whites have the least average of 7% teenage pregnancy (Boonstra, 2014). In United States, about 24 out of every 1000 girls got pregnant in teen ages. The present study is aimed to explore the reasons of teenage pregnancy, along with the social, emotional and health based issues faced by the teenage pregnant girl.
Rates of pregnancies and births in adolescents vary by region due to different causes, which can be mentioned, sexual activity, sexual education, access to contraceptive services and abortions, birth control, high prenatal care, etc. Although the causes of adolescent pregnancies are wide and complex, varying among different cultural and ethnic groups, our social attitudes about sexual activity and sexual contraception, it contributes to the prevention of teenage pregnancies (Charlton, Roberts, Rosario, Katz-Wise, Calzo, Spiegelman & Austin, 2018). At the world level, pregnancy at an early age occurs more and more frequently. These pregnancies are usually accompanied by great risks of biological complications in the mother, such as severe anemia, threats of abortion, premature birth or immature delivery, toxemia, hypertension induced by pregnancy itself, placenta previa, cervical incompetence, and infections, among others (Charlton et al., 2018). The child's health can range from low birth weight, to sequelae that are sometimes for life, such as mental retardation, defects of neural tube closure, as well as poor biological development, among others. In addition to the complications already mentioned above, it is important to note that many of the pregnancies in adolescents may lead the young woman to have an abortion and the risks involved for girls may be considerable, especially when it is carried out illegally and in inadequate medical conditions, a situation that is very frequent (Charlton et al., 2018). Complications usually include: hemorrhage, septicemia, anemia, vaginal lacerations, pelvic abscesses, perforations of the uterus, and secondary sterility, among others. Apart from the biological consequences there are other elements that are affected in a teenage pregnancy, such as emotional, social and economic aspects (Charlton et al., 2018). The news of the pregnancy has an impact on the young woman, on the father of the baby, who is usually also a teenager, in their family and in the community where they are immersed. The attitude of adolescents generally depends on the stage of adolescence they are going through, the meaning that the child has for her, the origin of the pregnancy and what was her life project before getting pregnant (Boonstra, 2014).
At a younger age, the chances of accepting pregnancy and raising the child will also be lower, since they have the obligation to fulfill the role of mother at an early age. A teenager does not move to adulthood simply because she is pregnant, she will remain a teenager who will have to take care of a child. Young women from 10 to 13 years old tend to have great fears in the face of pain and invasive procedures, and usually labor is very difficult because they lose control easily. In these cases, ideally, they should be attended by sensitive and trained professional staff for this lab, who can accompany and contain them and explain to them in a clear and concrete way the whole process they are going through, to reduce the stress of the pregnant. Adolescents from 14 to 16 years old can adopt an attitude of omnipotence that does not fear anything (Lang & Weinstein, 2015). Generally, in this age group, girls are more concerned about the changes their body is going through and about the interest they awaken around them with their pregnancy, than about what may happen to them. However, the problems appear later, when they must take care of the child all the time and abandon their lifestyle prior to pregnancy. In these cases, as in the previous one, the family support they have, as well as the work of the health teams that accompany them, will act, if they are positive, as protective factors (Boonstra, 2014).
In most cases, regardless of the social level from which the pregnant adolescent comes, the assistance to prenatal control begins when the situation of the family environment begins to stabilize, which usually occurs in the middle of the pregnancy forward. The fact that the adolescent receives delayed adequate medical attention, is a factor that aggravates even more, the condition of risk during pregnancy, which is already compromised. On the other hand, at an individual level, for the adolescent, pregnancy can mean several things: checking her fertility; consider that child as something that belongs to him, that he will love her and who he will love as she herself was not wanted; as a way out of a situation that no longer tolerates, that can be an environment of abuse of any kind or the expression of a condition does not resolve, such as the death of one of the parents or their divorce or as a way out life when the adolescent presents chronic diseases (Lang & Weinstein, 2015).
Considering the impact of this condition, it is important in the first place to reduce the incidence of pregnancy in this population group, taking preventive measures through campaigns that provide qualified and accurate information on sexual and reproductive health and education that includes the appropriate use of contraceptives and peer testimonials. These prevention campaigns must, moreover, promote a sincere and informed reflection among the young people, which allows them to discover their unconscious fears and desires and bring them to the conscience to work them from the objectivity that the information about their consequences offers them. risks and risks. Secondly, it is necessary to insist on an early attention of the pregnancy of these young women through an adequate prenatal control, carried out by professional personnel trained in the attention of adolescents to diminish the biological risks, both for the mother and for the product (Lang & Weinstein, 2015). As a third point, the integral approach that includes the psychological attention to the adolescent, to the father of the baby and to the family of both, during and after the pregnancy, with the aim of assessing the impact of this situation on all of them, is fundamental. that can also be considered as high biopsychosocial risk. It can be said that pregnancy in adolescents is a public health problem of multifactorial origin, which as such merits specialized attention to preventive strategies, which address it in an interdisciplinary and intersectoral manner. Therefore, when contemplating the serious problem that adolescent pregnancy represents in our country, it is essential that decision-makers promote and promote public health policies, which include the issue of sexual and reproductive education.
The interest in family and interpersonal support, especially the relationship with the partner, arises through two aspects: on the one hand, it has been reported that the adolescent who embarks early is usually raised in unfavorable family circumstances: disintegration, distant or negative paternal image, loss of significant figures, intrafamilial conflict and rigidity. It has been observed that they can also be successful in adapting to motherhood and their own future, but this depends on the social support they receive from their family or partner. That is why the need arises to know which are the social factors that most influence the pregnancy of the adolescent mother because she still depends affectively and economically on her family; In addition, it is essential to consider the cultural context and the special characteristics of the family to better understand the situation of the adolescent (Sedgh, Finer, Bankole, Eilers & Singh, 2015).
The multiple forms of expression of American culture in different socioeconomic strata qualify in a special way the repercussions that pregnancy and motherhood have for the adolescent (Sedgh, 2015). It is not possible to describe a single personality profile in the adolescent, nor is there a high frequency of emotional instability in the pregnant adolescent, it is reported that they usually have psychosocial characteristics that put them at a disadvantage to confront the implicit challenges of motherhood. and that, probably, will determine to a large extent how they evolve after childbirth (Sedgh, 2015). Adolescence implies challenges and conflicts according to the culture and the sociocultural stratum. The search for identity, so common among some societies and subcultures, may be smaller in groups where social models are more defined and relatively limited alternatives (Sedgh, 2015). Despite the possible cultural differences, it should be noted that when the woman is a mother in adolescence, this stage will have an even more decisive impact on her later psychosocial development. Personal characteristics of pregnant adolescents have been observed that distinguish them from others who do not get pregnant and who use contraceptives properly. In general, after the first pregnancy the knowledge and use of contraceptives is increased, but various attitudes about it probably contribute to the efficacy (Sedgh, 2015).
In conclusion, teenage pregnancy is a social and medical issue of serious concerns that totally based on the societal development through learning. Teenage pregnancy impacts the entire life of the female and most of the female got depressed by the events of teenage abortion and miscarriages. For the adolescent, pregnancy is associated with an important school disadvantage, with less paid and unsatisfactory jobs. The younger the adolescent is when the first child is born, the greater the number of subsequent children, so the socio-economic consequences tend to be more drastic. From a psychosocial perspective, there may also be negative consequences in terms of a reduction in life alternatives, family conflicts and personal dissatisfaction. In the case of the adolescent who joins the couple because of pregnancy, there is a greater risk of marital and divorce problems than in more mature couples.
References
Boonstra, H. D. (2014). What is behind the declines in teen pregnancy rates?. Guttmacher Policy Review, 17(3), 15-21.
Charlton, B. M., Roberts, A. L., Rosario, M., Katz-Wise, S. L., Calzo, J. P., Spiegelman, D., & Austin, S. B. (2018). Teen Pregnancy Risk Factors Among Young Women of Diverse Sexual Orientations. Pediatrics, 141(4), e20172278.
Lang, K., & Weinstein, R. (2015). The consequences of teenage childbearing before roe v. wade. American Economic Journal: Applied Economics, 7(4), 169-97.
Sedgh, G., Finer, L. B., Bankole, A., Eilers, M. A., & Singh, S. (2015). Adolescent pregnancy, birth, and abortion rates across countries: levels and recent trends. Journal of Adolescent Health, 56(2), 223-230.