Archive for the ‘Teen Pregnancy’ Category
Dec
13
Posted by Monster
f you're a pregnant teen, you're not alone. About half a million adolescents give birth each year. Most teens who have babies didn't plan on becoming pregnant. You may have been surprised when you found out or even hoped it wasn't true. You may have been terrified to tell your parents. You may have worried how this might affect your relationships with your family, friends, and the baby's father. Sharing the news of your pregnancy can be one of the most difficult conversations to have.
Whether you feel confused, worried, scared, or excited, you'll want to know how your life will change, what you can do to have a healthy baby, and what it takes to become a good parent.
The most important thing you can do is to take good care of yourself so that you and your baby will be healthy. Girls who get the proper care and make the right choices have a very good chance of having healthy babies.
Prenatal Care
If you are pregnant, you need to see a doctor as soon as possible to begin getting prenatal care (medical care during pregnancy). The sooner you start to get medical care, the better your chances that you and your baby will be healthy.
If you can't afford to go to a doctor or clinic for prenatal care, there are social service organizations that can help you. Ask your parent, school counselor, or another trusted adult to help you locate resources in your community.
During your first visit, your doctor will ask you lots of questions including the date of your last period. This is so he or she can estimate how long you have been pregnant and your due date. Doctors measure pregnancies in weeks. It's important to remember that your due date is only an estimate: Most babies are born between 38 and 42 weeks after the first day of a woman's last menstrual period, or 36 to 38 weeks after conception (when the sperm fertilizes the egg). Only a small percentage of women actually deliver exactly on their due dates.
A pregnancy is divided into three phases, or trimesters. The first trimester is from conception to the end of week 13. The second trimester is from week 14 to the end of week 26. The third trimester is from week 27 to the end of the pregnancy.
The doctor will examine you and perform a pelvic exam. He or she will also perform blood tests, a urine test, and tests for sexually transmitted diseases (STDs), including a test for HIV, which is on the rise in teens. (Some STDs can cause serious medical problems in newborns, so it's important to get treatment to protect the baby.)
The doctor will explain the types of physical and emotional changes you can expect during pregnancy. He or she will also teach you to how to recognize the signs of possible problems during pregnancy (called complications). This is especially important because teens are more at risk for certain complications such as anemia, high blood pressure, miscarriage, and delivering a baby earlier than usual (called premature delivery).
Your doctor will want you to start taking prenatal vitamins that contain the minerals folic acid, calcium, and iron as soon as possible. The vitamins may be prescribed by the doctor, or he or she may recommend a brand that you can buy over the counter. These vitamins and minerals help ensure the baby's and mother's health as well as prevent some types of birth defects.
Ideally, you should see your doctor once each month for the first 28 to 30 weeks of your pregnancy, then every 2 to 3 weeks until 36 weeks, then once a week until you deliver the baby. If you have a medical condition such as diabetes that needs careful monitoring during your pregnancy, your doctor will probably want to see you more often.
During visits, your doctor will check your weight, blood pressure, and urine, and will measure your abdomen to keep track of the baby's growth. Once the baby's heartbeat can be heard with a special device, the doctor will listen for it at each visit. Your doctor will probably also send you for some other tests during the pregnancy, such as an ultrasound, to make sure that everything is OK with your baby.
One part of prenatal care is attending classes where expectant mothers can learn about having a healthy pregnancy and delivery and the basics of caring for a new baby. These classes may be offered at hospitals, medical centers, schools, and colleges in your area.
It can be difficult for adults to talk to their doctors about their bodies and even more difficult for teens to do so. Your doctor is there to help you stay healthy during pregnancy and have a healthy baby - and there's probably not much he or she hasn't heard from expectant mothers! So don't be afraid to ask questions. Think of your doctor both as a resource and a friend who you can confide in about what's happening to you. And always be honest when your doctor asks questions about issues that could affect your baby's health.
Changes to Expect in Your Body
Pregnancy causes lots of physical changes in the body. Here are some common ones:
Breast Growth
An increase in breast size is one of the first signs of pregnancy, and the breasts may continue to grow throughout the pregnancy. You may go up several bra sizes during the course of your pregnancy.
Skin Changes
Don't be surprised if people tell you your skin is "glowing" when you are pregnant - pregnancy causes an increase in blood volume, which can make your cheeks a little pinker than usual. And hormonal changes increase oil gland secretion, which can give your skin a shinier appearance. Acne is also common during pregnancy for the same reason.
Other skin changes caused by pregnancy hormones may include brownish or yellowish patches on the face called chloasma and a dark line on the midline of the lower abdomen, known as the linea nigra.
Also, moles or freckles that you had prior to pregnancy may become bigger and darker. Even the areola, the area around the nipples, becomes darker. Stretch marks are thin pink or purplish lines that can appear on your abdomen, breasts, or thighs.
Except for the darkening of the areola, which is usually permanent, these skin changes will usually disappear after you give birth.
Mood Swings
It's very common to have mood swings during pregnancy. Some girls may also experience depression during pregnancy or after delivery. If you have symptoms of depression such as sadness, changes in sleep patterns, or bad feelings about yourself or your life for more than 2 weeks, tell your doctor so he or she can help you to get treatment.
Pregnancy Discomforts
Pregnancy can cause some uncomfortable side effects. These include nausea and vomiting, especially early in the pregnancy; leg swelling; varicose veins in the legs and the area around the vaginal opening; hemorrhoids; heartburn and constipation; backache; fatigue; and sleep loss. If you experience one or more of these side effects, keep in mind that you're not alone! Ask your doctor for advice on how to deal with these common problems.
Things to Avoid
Smoking, drinking, and taking drugs when you are pregnant put you and your baby at risk for a number of serious problems.
Alcohol
Doctors now feel that it's not safe to drink any amount of alcohol when you are pregnant. Drinking can harm a developing fetus, putting a baby at risk for birth defects and mental problems.
Smoking
The risks of smoking during pregnancy include stillbirths (when a baby dies while inside the mother), low birth weight (which increases a baby's risk for health problems), prematurity (when babies are born earlier than 37 weeks), and sudden infant death syndrome (SIDS). SIDS is the sudden, unexplained death of an infant who is younger than 1 year old.
Drugs
Using illegal drugs such as cocaine or marijuana during pregnancy can cause miscarriage, prematurity, and other medical problems. Babies can also be born addicted to certain drugs.
Ask your doctor for help if you are having trouble quitting smoking, drinking, or drugs. Check with your doctor before taking any medication while you are pregnant, including over-the-counter medications, herbal remedies and supplements, and vitamins.
Unsafe Sex
Talk to your doctor about sex during pregnancy. If you are sexually active while you are pregnant, you must use a condom to help prevent getting an STD. Some STDs can cause blindness, pneumonia, or meningitis in newborns, so it's important to protect yourself and your baby.
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Dec
11
Posted by Waikhu
Nearly one million teenagers become pregnant each year in the United States; approximately thirty-three percent have an abortion, 14% miscarry, and 52% carry to term (Maynard, 1996). Of those who carry to term, 72% do so out of wedlock (Maynard). The U.S. has the highest teenage pregnancy rate among all industrialized nations; two times Great Britain, and 15 times Japan (Maynard). However, the rate of sexual activity of teens in the U.S. is not notably higher than the rate in other countries (Brooks-Gunn & Furstenberg, 1989). According to the Alan Guttmacher Institute, the unusually high teen pregnancy rate in the U.S. is mainly due to teens receiving mixed messages about contraception and also due to the ineffective delivery of birth control services to the teenage population (Brooks-Gunn & Furstenberg).
Why are so many U.S. teenagers becoming pregnant?
Over the last century, the age of menarche has decreased among teenage girls to 12.5 years, whereas the age of marriage has increased to the mid 20's, resulting in a 10 to 15 year gap between menarche and marriage (Warren, 1992). At the same time, the average teenager watches about 9000 scenes of sexual activity or innuendo per year (Warren). The combination of these two factors contributes to the high rate of premarital sex among teens and young adults (Warren). One of the main reasons why so many of these teenagers are becoming pregnant is because half of all teens do not use any type of birth control the first time they have sex (Brooks-Gunn & Furstenberg, 1989).
Research has discovered many common characteristics among pregnant teens. These include having little access to free confidential family planning, little communication with parents, lack of knowledge of parents' contraceptive experiences, low educational achievement and aspirations, low self-esteem, and not knowing when, in the menstrual cycle, a woman is most likely to get pregnant (Brooks-Gunn & Furstenberg, 1989).
What happens to teens who become pregnant and their children?
Pregnant teenagers have many obstacles ahead of them. For example, seven out of 10 girls who become pregnant drop out of high school and subsequently are unable to successfully support themselves and their children (Maynard, 1996). After birth, it becomes even more difficult to get an education that will help them find a good job. Day care is expensive and doing homework with a child present is difficult. Without good support from family and friends, it is nearly impossible to complete school. The result of these obstacles is a high dependency on welfare; fifty percent higher than women who delay childbearing (Maynard). In addition, children of teenage parents are more likely to have health and cognitive disadvantages and to be neglected or abused (Maynard). Furthermore, daughters of teenage mothers are more likely to be pregnant as teens, and sons are more likely to end up in prison than children of later child bearers (Maynard).
What can be done?
One way to alleviate this problem is through prevention. Education in the schools has been one option. Unfortunately, U.S. sex education programs only cover limited topics in an extremely limited amount of time and therefore have not decreased the likelihood of pregnancy (Barth, Fetro, Leland, Volkan, 1992; Warren, 1992). However, in countries such as Sweden, England, and France, where sex education is required or encouraged in the schools, birth control attitudes and behavior have been positively affected by an ongoing program (Warren). Therefore, sex education programs in the schools have the potential for decreasing teen pregnancy.
Research points towards family communication as a major key to prevention. Children prefer to receive sexuality education from their parents over any other source (Handelsman, Cabral, & Weisfeld 1987; White & DeBlassie, 1992). In addition, studies have found that when sex education is provided by parents, adolescents have a later onset of first intercourse and use birth control more often (Huston, Martin, & Foulds, 1990). Unfortunately, only 10% of U.S. families have any kind of ongoing sexuality discussion (Warren, 1992).
In addition to prevention, programs need to be developed that will help pregnant teens obtain an education, secure good jobs, and learn parenting skills. Furthermore, it is important to recognize that each pregnant or parenting teen may not fit into the categories described above. If these individuals are stereotyped as poor parents and welfare abusers, they will not feel that they can be good parents who can support themselves. One important step that we can all take is to offer support and encouragement toward those who have already become pregnant.
Pregnancy is a major concern among those teenagers who are sexually active. Unfortunately, pregnancy is not the only thing that sexually active teens need to worry about.
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Nov
24
Posted by Admin
No teenage girl wants to have to tell her parents that she is pregnant and no parent of a teenage girl wants to hear that news. Still, if you are a pregnant teenager, it is important to tell your parents and allow them to help you through the experience. This article offers some ideas about how to tell your parents that you are pregnant.
Why Tell?
If you are pregnant, you have three basic choices. You can give birth to the baby and keep it. You can give birth to the baby and give it up for adoption. Or you can have an abortion. If you’ve chosen one of the first two options, your parents definitely need to know—your changing body will make it easy for them to guess anyway. If you tell them yourself, rather than waiting for them to notice it, you will have much more control over where the conversation takes place and how it goes.
If you choose the third option, abortion, you may be able to keep your parents in the dark. However, some states have parental notification or consent laws. Even if your state doesn’t, you should tell your parents that you have been through something so important and potentially life-altering.
The only reason not to tell your parents is if they have a history of abuse and you fear for your safety. If this is the case, contact a women’s clinic or hospital and make an appointment to see their social worker.
Preparation
Before you talk to your parents, double check the results of the pregnancy test. Some of the early-detection tests are not very accurate and may give false positive readings.
If you are sure you are pregnant, take a day or two to think through your options.
Plan what you are going to say to your parents. Do you want to talk to them together or would you rather tell one of them before the other?
Find a time to speak to your parent or parents in private, when they have some time to talk and are not rushing off to work or another commitment. If it is hard to catch them in a free moment, ask them to schedule some time to talk to you about something serious.
Tempting as it may be to tell your parents in a public place, like a restaurant, avoid this impulse. Tempers run high at such a moment, voices may get raised, and you don’t want a bunch of strangers witnessing a big fight between you and your parents.
Most parents of pregnant teens try to be supportive, but just in case the talk goes badly and they throw you out of the house, or you feel unsafe and want to leave, it’s a good idea to have a Plan B. Could you stay with your baby’s father or with one of your girlfriends for a couple of days? Is there another relative who might take you in?
The Talk
There is no way you can cushion your parents from the natural shock and grief they will feel when you tell them you’re pregnant. There’s no gentle lead in, no way to make a joke of it, and it’s cruel to make them guess. The mature thing to do, once you have your parents alone in a private place is to simply say, “Mom, Dad, I’m pregnant.”
Be prepared for an intense emotional reaction, such as crying or yelling. Be prepared, too, to answer questions about who the father is, how the pregnancy happened (for instance, were you not using birth control or did your birth control fail), and what you plan to do now.
Some parents may take over and start making plans for you. Although this may feel very comforting at the time, make sure your voice is also heard, especially if you and your parents have different ideas about how the pregnancy should be handled.
There is no “typical” reaction to hearing the news that one’s daughter is pregnant. Some parents are immediately reassuring, others may be angry, still others will try to ignore (deny) the news.
If your parents have an extreme reaction, give them a few days to pull it together. Then approach them again. Hopefully they will be calmer and more able to give you the support you need once the idea has sunk in.
Having to tell your parents that you are pregnant is one of the hardest things you’ll ever have to do. But if you can be direct and honest with them, they may turn into a valuable source of support and comfort.
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