A brief introduction about teenage pregnancy in India

2. Adolescent pregnancy continues
to be an important social issue. In
recent years there has been
increased interest in, and concern
about the problems of adolescent
pregnancy
and
parenthood
because adolescent parenthood is
epidemic among our teenagers
that is spreading out of control.

3. 

Adolescent pregnancy can be defined as „a
teenaged or under aged girl, usually between
age 13 to 19 years old, becoming pregnant‟
Teenage pregnancy is formally defined as a
pregnancy in a young woman who has not
reached her 20th birthday when the pregnancy
ends, regardless of whether the woman is
married or is legally an adult (age 14 to
21, depending on he country)

4. Teen
pregnancy
is
usually
understood to occur in a teenager
who has not completed her core
education-secondary school, has
few or no marketable skills, is
financially dependent upon her
parents and/or continues to live at
home and is often mentally
immature (Medical dictionary)

5. 

Pregnancy is big social issue of social problem
that calls for more education and support to
encourage girls to delay motherhood until they
are ready.
Due
to
social
development
in
our
country,
many
questions
like
drug
addiction, transgender homosexuality and
prostitution arising in the developing
country, like India, which is teenage
pregnancy.

6. 
Studies have found that between 11 and 20
percent of pregnancies in teenagers are directly
result of rape, while about 60 percent of
teenage mothers had unwanted sexual
experiences preceding their pregnancy.
Premarital pregnancy and childbearing occure
to a minority of adolescents and carry social
disapproval.

7. 
They generally qualify as a
deviant behaviors. Unmarried
adolescent mothers are likely to
experience social ostracism and
financial difficulties

8. 
The ultimate „cause‟ of
adolescent pregnancy is
unprotected sex. A sexually
active teenager who does
not use contraception has a
90 percent chance of
becoming pregnant within
one year.

9. 




Early dating behaviour.
Adolescent sexual behaviour which
may also influenced by alcohol and
drugs.
High-risk behaviours (smoking, alcohol
and substance abuse.)
Lack of a support group.
Peer pressure to engage in sexual
activity

10. 
Stress and depression.

Delinquency.

Sexual abuse leading to rape.

Exposure to sexual violence.

Financial constraints.

11. 
Younger age.

Poor school performance.

Economic disadvantage.

Single or teen parents.

Influence of movies.

Adoption of western culture.

13. 

Life may be difficult for an adolescent mother and
her child. Adolescent mothers are more likely to
drop out of educational institution than girls who
delay childbearing. With her education cu short, a
teenage mother may lack job skills, making it hard
for her to find and keep a job.
A teenage mother may become financially
dependent on her family or on public assistance.
Teen mothers are more likely to live in poverty
than women who delay childbearing.

14. 
Pregnancy is a challenge in any female‟s life
regardless of the circumstance. however, for
the adolescent the crisis is greatly intensified
because it adds another level of complexity to
an already complex period of physical
emotional change

15. 
Research indicates that pregnant teens are less
likely to receive prenatal care. Often seeking it
only in the third trimester. As a result of
insufficient prenatal care, the global incidence
of premature births and low birth weight is
higher amongst teenage mothers.

16. 

Risks for medical complications are greater for
girls 14 years of age and younger, as an
underdeveloped pelvis can lead to difficulties
in childbirth.
Young women under 20 face a higher risk of
obstructed labour , which if caesarean section is
not available can cause an obstetric fistula, a
tear in the birth canal that creates leakage of
urine and/ faeces.

17. 
At least 2 million of the worlds poorest women
live with fistulas. Complications during
pregnancy and delivery are the leading causes
of death for girls aged 15 to 19 in developing
countries. They are twice as likely to die in
childbirth as women in their 20s.teenage girls
account for 14 percent of the estimated 20
million unsafe abortions performed each
year, which result in some 68,000 deaths

18. 

Single motherhood is associated with the
causes mentioned earlier and it can be
overwhelming when an infant is born
prematurely. The financial, emotional ,and
/her extended family to deal with.
It is further complicated with society‟s attitude
towards teenage unwed mothers. They
experience isolation ,guilt accompanied by
stress and depression , low self –esteem
resulting in lack of interest in studies , limited
job prospects and lack of a support group.

19. 
Health-wise teenage mothers have a much
higher risk for anemia, pregnancy-induced
hypertension, genital tract infection(which may
lead to premature labour and
delivery), caesarean section because of prematurity, extra-large baby ,foetal distress and
sudden infant death syndrome.

20. 
The major complications in young mothers are
thought to be high blood pressure, iron
deficiency, anemia, disproportion and birth of
low weight babies. Similarly, infants born to
such teenage mothers are at higher risk of
complications of pre-maturity ,low weight
,accidental trauma and poisoning, minor acute
infections, lack of immunization or
vaccinations and developed delays.

21. 
Pregnancy at a very young age , especially an
unwanted one , leads to severe emotional and
mental trauma for the girl . Hence , the first
and foremost lines of defense are programmes
that are effective in delaying attempts for
sexual activities.

22. 
Parents ,schools ,social workers and healthcare
professionals can have open, honest and
educational talks with teenagers and preteens.
They can also provide advice to teenagers
about how to prevent unwanted teenage
pregnancies.

23. 
Some interventions have focused solely on
education and some on getting adolescents to
abstain from coital activity, whereas others
have concentrated on teaching cognitive and
interpersonal skills which is thought to
decrease the chance of youth pregnancy.

24. 
Government should plan to make sex and
relationship educational compulsory at both
primary and secondary school levels.
Community-based and college-linked clinics
can reduce pregnancy rates

25. 
In conclusion, all parties including
parents, school, social workers, government, as
well as the individual should do their parts, in
order to prevent adolescent pregnancy from
becoming serious life and death issue. Besides
that, the community also need to play their
roles in handling and preventing the issue from
becoming big social problem, especially among
those unmarried couple, facing unplanned
pregnancy. however with proper guidance and
counseling, the issue of unplanned pregnancy
among unmarried couple can be avoided

26. 
“Fifty years from now it will not mean as what
kind of car you drove, what kind of house you
lived in, how much you had in your bank
account or what you clothes looked like. But
the world may be a little better because you
were important in the life of a child”