<blockquote> <h3>Fast Facts </h3> <ul> <li>Teenage pregnancy is pregnancy in a girl who is 19 years of age or younger. </li> <li>More than half (about 51%) of all pregnancies are unplanned, according to the Centers for Disease Control (CDC), and according to Planned Parenthood, 82% of all teenage pregnancies are unplanned. </li> <li>Each year in the United States, around 194,000 babies are born to teenage moms who are between the age of 15 to 19 years.</li> <li>The CDC reports that even though teen pregnancy rates have declined in the United States, it still has the highest teen pregnancy rates compared to other developed countries.</li> </ul> </blockquote> <p>Remember in high school health class when your teacher made you carry around a fake doll, or “infant simulator”, for a week to teach you about parenthood? Some of the fake dolls were robot babies that were computerized to behave like real-life infants – crying and screaming incessantly, needing to be changed, fed, cared for, played with, loved often, etc. or it would shut down, or “die”.</p> <p>The exercise, in theory, was intended to teach teenagers about the challenges and difficulties of being a parent, which would, in turn, encourage teen girls and boys to practice safe sex to prevent a teen pregnancy. </p> <p>Well, a study published in <em>The Lancet</em> by a group of Australian researchers found that the exercise was doing the exact opposite of what the program intended. In the study, almost 3,000 teenage girls at 57 different schools across Australia participated, where 1,267 teen girls used the robot babies, and 1,567 teen girls did not. </p> <p>The results from the study revealed that 8% of the students who used the robot babies gave birth to at least one baby by the age 20, compared to 4% of girls from the other group. Additionally, 9% of teen girls in the robot baby group had gotten abortions, compared to 6% of teen girls from the no robot baby group. </p> <p>So, why did this happen? Well, Dr. Sally Brinkman, lead researcher on the study, speculated that, “for some girls, the program inadvertently taught them that having a baby is fun and doable. Essentially, they enjoyed the robot babies too much and the program taught them that they could cope, convincing the girls that they were ready for babies when they were really not.”</p> <h2>Being a teenager is hard, but becoming a teen parent makes it even harder<strong> </strong></h2> <p>The fact of the matter is it’s hard being a teenager – there’s puberty, acne, your body changing, the rollercoaster of emotions, raging hormones, dating, and so much more. But becoming a teen mom or dad makes being a teen a whole lot harder, despite how much fun it might’ve been caring for a robot baby. </p> <p>While you may think it can’t or won’t happen to you, if you’re having sex, pregnancy is a very real possibility, even if you’re not planning on getting pregnant and you’re using contraceptives. Condoms can break or birth control pills can fail. These things happen – in fact, it happens more often than you think. More than half (about 51%) of all pregnancies are unplanned, according to the Centers for Disease Control (CDC). </p> <figure><img src="https://plan-international.org/tachyon/2022/01/effects-teen-pregnancy.jpg?resize=720%2C540&zoom=1" alt width="720" height="540" /> <figcaption>What are the effects of teenage pregnancy? <em>Source: Plan-international.org</em></figcaption> </figure> <h2>10 facts about teen pregnancy you should know </h2> <p>So, if you’re a sexually active teen, here are 10 facts about teen pregnancy you should know that a robot baby can’t teach you. </p> <p><strong>1. Teenage pregnancy can happen even before you’re actually a teen. </strong>Teenage pregnancy is pregnancy in a girl who is 19 years of age or younger. A girl can get pregnant at any age if she has sexual intercourse with a boy after she has started having a regular monthly period. And based on data from the National Survey of Family Growth, the median age of menarche (first menstrual period) fell from 12 to 11 years of age, and the percentage of girls who reach menarche by age 10 rose from 7% to 10%. That means that a young pre-teen girl who has started her menses and is sexually active can become pregnant even before she is a teenager, which is a person between 13 to 19 years of age. </p> <p><strong>2. Even though teen pregnancy rates have declined in the United States, it still has the highest teen pregnancy rates compared to other developed countries. </strong>Pregnancy rates in teens across the U.S. have declined 77% in the past 30 years – teen birth rates dropped 20% from 1990 to 2000, 28% from 2000 to 2010, and 55% from 2010 to 2020, and declines continue into 2021. The most immediate reasons behind the declines in teen births are delays in sex and increases in contraceptive use, particularly the use of effective contraceptive methods, intrauterine devices (IUDs) and other small implants. </p> <p>Despite the significant decline in teen pregnancy rates, United States still has higher rates than those in other industrialized nations. By comparison, the United States’ teen pregnancy rate is over 2 times that of Canada, over 4 times that of the Netherlands, over 3 times that of Germany, and almost 3 times that of France. </p> <p><strong>3. Approximately 82% of teen pregnancies are unintended. </strong>Each year in the United States, around 194,000 babies are born to teen moms who are between the age of 15 to 19 years – which translates to a birth rate of 18.8 per 1,000 girls in this age group, according to the CDC. Of those, it is estimated that the vast majority, about 82%, are unplanned, unintended pregnancies, according to Planned Parenthood. </p> <p><strong>4. Teen moms are more likely to suffer mental health problems. </strong>A study published in the <em>Pediatrics </em>surveyed about 6,400 women during the postpartum period to compare the maternity experiences, knowledge, and behaviors of adolescents, young adults, and adult women. The researchers found that girls ranging from 15 to 19 years of age were two times more likely to suffer postpartum depression than women aged 25 and older, which can lead to difficulty bonding with their baby, overwhelming fatigue, feeling worthless, anxiety, difficulty enjoying activities they once did, and panic attacks. The authors noted that more teen moms experienced higher rates of anxiety and depression even beyond the postpartum period.</p> <p>Another study reported that teen mothers face significantly more social and financial stress, which can lead to increased mental health concerns than moms aged 25 years or older. The authors of this study also reported that teen moms have higher rates of suicidal ideation and posttraumatic stress disorder (PTSD) than their peers who aren’t moms. </p> <p><strong>5. Pregnancy can be riskier for teens than adult women. </strong>According to the World Health Organization (WHO) and the CDC, the lowest risk pregnancies are those in women between the ages of 25 and 35.Whereas pregnancy in girls between 15 and 19 years face higher risks of pregnancy-related complications, such as:</p> <ul> <li>preeclampsia (pregnancy-related high blood pressure)</li> <li>anemia (low levels of healthy red blood cells that carry oxygen to your body’s tissues)</li> <li>postpartum endometritis (infection in the lining of the uterus after birth)</li> <li>contracting a sexually transmitted disease (STD)</li> <li>premature delivery</li> <li>delivery of a low birth weight baby</li> </ul> <p><strong>6. Teen moms are more likely to give birth to premature babies</strong> – which is a baby that is delivered before 37 weeks of pregnancy – according to the CDC. Premature babies tend to be underweight, which can cause breathing and feeding issues. Underweight babies are also more susceptible to diseases, such as diabetes and heart disease, later in life. Low birth weight also affects a baby’s brain development, which have been shown to lead to learning difficulties in early childhood. </p> <p><strong>7. Teen moms are more likely to drop out of high school and be single moms. </strong>According to the non-profit research organization, Child Trends, only 53% of teen moms finish their high school education compared to the 90% of teens who did not have a baby. Additionally, a teen pregnancy also hinders the mom from pursuing higher education and acquiring basic qualifications, which leads most teen moms to have poorly paid jobs. </p> <p>On top of not being able to finish high school, teen moms are more likely to raise their baby alone and in poverty compared to older moms, according to the CDC. </p> <p><strong>8. Babies born to teen moms face greater challenges throughout their lives. </strong>According to the U.S Department of Health and Human Services, children of teen parents get less education and have worse behavioral and physical health issues compared to children born to older pregnant women. Additionally, according to Youth.gov, other effects on a child of a teen mom include: </p> <ul> <li>less prepared to enter kindergarten</li> <li>rely more heavily on publicly funded health care</li> <li>are more likely to drop out of high school</li> <li>are more likely to be unemployed or underemployed as a young adult</li> <li>are more likely to be incarcerated at some time during their teens</li> </ul> <p><strong>9. Intrauterine devices (IUDs) are doctors’ first choice to prevent teen pregnancy. </strong>While most sexually active teen girls choose condoms or birth control pills for contraception, the American Academy of Pediatrics (AAP) recommends IUDs over the former two options. An IUD is a small, T-shaped device that is inserted into the uterus, where it releases the hormone progestin to prevent pregnancy. The reason the AAP and doctors are recommending sexually active teens use IUDs is because they are a Long-Acting Reversible Contraceptive (LARC) and are ideal for teens who may forget to take their birth control pills or if their partner refuses to use condoms. Additionally, IUDs are the only method shown to be more reliable in terms of reducing unintended teen pregnancies. </p> <p><strong>10. Not all teen pregnancies end up in the teen girl giving birth. </strong>Since more than 80% of teen pregnancies are unplanned, some of them do end up in abortion. In fact, the U.S. Department of Health & Human Services Office of Population Affairs reported that only 61% of pregnant teens ended up giving birth, 15% of these women suffered a miscarriage, and approximately 25% of teen pregnancies ended in abortion. </p><h2>More on Teen Sexuality</h2><ul><li><a href="https://soulivity.storymd.com/journal/bmp882rs6j-teen-pregnancy" target="_blank">Teen Pregnancy</a></li><li><a href="https://soulivity.storymd.com/journal/6j496e8hnm-teen-sexuality-for-girls" target="_blank">A Girl's Guide to Sexuality and Relationships</a></li><li><a href="https://soulivity.storymd.com/journal/oja82r6h4w-contraception" target="_blank">Contraception (Birth Control): Types, Benefits, Risks</a></li></ul>