Adolescence/Teen pregnancy

Teen Pregnancy Today

In 2012, according to the CDC, 367,752 infants were born to women aged 15-19 years creating a birth rate of 34.3 per 1,000 women in this age group (Centers for Disease Control, 2012). While this number indicates that the problem is on the decline, it is still a huge issue in the United States. With teen pregnancy comes along a whole string of issues that could be prevented if the proper preventive measures were taken to stop teen pregnancies from happening. Even though in the United States these numbers are declining, these rates along with sexually transmitted diseases, and abortion rates are still much higher than those of other industrialized nations (Centers for Disease Control, 2012). This indicates that this is an issue that still needs to be addressed.

Importance of Prevention

Teen pregnancies come with extreme costs and burden of mothers and families. According to the CDC, teen pregnancy accounts for nearly $11 billion per year in costs to taxpayers for increased health care and lost tax revenue (Centers for Disease Control, 2012). Along with the costs, teen pregnancy has been directly related to drop out rates in high school. Only about 50% of teen mothers receive a high school diploma compared to 90% of non teen mothers who receive a high school diploma (Centers for Disease Control, 2012). Children of teen mothers are also very likely to be teen mothers themselves at that age, and they tend to have much lower school achievement (Centers for Disease Control, 2012).

CDC Priority

The CDC names teen pregnancy prevention as one of the top six priorities, a winnable battle in public health, and of extreme importance to health and quality of life for youth (Centers for Disease Control, 2012). The CDC believes that factors on the basis of knowledge, skills, and beliefs, or attitudes related to teen pregnancy will be the most important to prevent teen pregnancies (Centers for Disease Control, 2012). The name specific factors and some are knowledge about sexual issues, attitudes towards condom use, intent to use a condom, and communication with parents or other adults about sex, condoms, and contraception (Centers for Disease Control, 2012). These factors, if addressed properly, could result in an even greater decline in teen pregnancies in the United States.

Condom Use

According to the Youth Risk Behavior Surveillance from 2011 60.2% of sexually active students had used a condom during their last sexual intercourse (Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, 2012). Education on condoms and their importance would help reduce the number of teen pregnancies, and help stop the spread of sexually transmitted diseases and HIV across the globe. Condoms are inexpensive and easy to get, they do not require a prescription, and can be used with other birth control methods (Planned Parenthood, 2012). The increase in condom use and other birth control methods can help continue to reduce the number of infants born to teens. A huge focus on preventing teen pregnancies should be one the increasing the use of condoms and other birth control methods.