Teenage pregnancy in perspective

In an effort to provide the clinician with suggestions for preventive and remedial approaches to adolescent pregnancy, the nature, medical, social, economic, and psychological aspects of the problem are reviewed and discussed. While the rate of adolescent pregnancy is declining, there are more than 560,000 deliveries to teenagers annually. Medical risks are significantly diminished by early and comprehensive prenatal care. The major complications continue to be social and economic. Lower I.Q.s in offspring of adolescent mothers have been reported. Failure to complete high school significantly increases the risk of unemployment, trapping the premature parent and her offspring in a web of poverty. A lack of a sense of future and viable alternatives may legitimize the option of motherhood in the minds of many adolescent girls. Furthermore, an ignorance and a denial of sexuality combined with the developmental imperatives of experimentation and rebellion place the adolescent at high risk for pregnancy.

A study of out-of-wedlock pregnancies: outcome and utilization of maternal/child health services

The characteristics of unwed pregnant women, their utilization of maternal and child health services and the infant mortality among these out-of-wedlock births were investigated. During the study period, 5% of all pregnancies (48 of 855) were of this nature. Utilization of antenatal services was poor among unwed pregnant women, compared to those who were married. However, they used the child care services satisfactorily, as observed by the well-baby-clinic visits and acceptance of immunization. The infant mortality was 125 per 1000 live births, more than double the rate among infants born to married women. Either immediately after child birth or within one year after delivery, 50% of the unwed mothers started living with the putative fathers.

Teenage pregnancy and motherhood: a review of the literature

Medical and nonmedical studies of teenage pregnancy and its outcomes are reviewed, and the state of our current knowledge is assessed. It is suggested that, while the typical teenage girl is biologically ready for motherhood, a complex set of social and psychological variables leads those least well-suited for the role into becoming teenage parents. The effectiveness of special programs for pregnant adolescents and their offspring is examined, and implications for policy and prevention are offered.

Social and psychological correlates of pregnancy resolution among adolescent women: a review

A review of the recent literature on pregnancy resolution among unmarried adolescent women suggests that those who seek and go through with an abortion do not comprise a "special" population, but are similar to their age mates in many of their social and psychological characteristics. Previous research does suggest, however, that teenage abortion patients differ from their term counterparts on a number of significant variables.

Unintended pregnancies in the United States, 1970--1972

There were about 2.0--2.3 million unintended pregnancies in the United States each year during the early 1970s. Within this framework, the rapid rise in the number of abortions since 1973, to 1.3 million in 1977, is quite predictable.

Factors associated with ex-nuptial birth

The paper examines the background to 210 live exnuptial births studied in the first phase of the Christ-church Child Development Study. The results show: 1. That nearly half of the children had been conceived within cohabiting situations. 2. That nearly one in five ex-nuptial children was the result of a planned pregnancy. 3. Maternal reactions to the birth and pregnancy varied with the mother's situation: cohabiting mothers reported considerably less adverse reaction to the birth than did non-cohabiting mothers. 4. Overall, mothers of ex-nuptial children had a fairly sophisticated appreciation of contraceptive methods. 5. One quarter of unplanned ex-nuptial pregnancies were the result of contraceptive failure and three-quarters were the result of contraceptive non-usage. 6. In common with previous findings for nuptial pregnancies, about 35 percent of unplanned ex-nuptial pregnancies were ascribed to a breakdown in the mother's pattern of usage of the contraceptive pill.

Deliveries in teenagers at a Newfoundland general hospital

A study of deliveries in teenagers was undertaken for the year 1975 in a hospital that had recorded 2797 births, 371 (13%) of which were to women under 20 years of age. Conception had occurred out of wedlock in 314 (85%) of the 371 pregnancies; 124 of the 314 women had married during the pregnancy, most often in the 3rd or 4th month of gestation. The peak months for conception out of wedlock were June and December. This was not the first pregnancy for 65 women (18%), 21 of whom had married during a previous pregnancy. Of the "heads of the households" 36% were labourers and 27% were unemployed. Cesarean section was the method of delivery for 51 (14%) of the women, and 63 (17%) were reported as having had toxemia. There were seven perinatal deaths and seven infants had severe congenital abnormalities. The frequency of low birth weight was 6% overall but 13% for the infants of single women. Five women underwent tubal ligation post partum.