Teen Pregnancy in the United States

Introduction

Parenthood is something that women and men are expected and encouraged to be a part of, but for most societies, only within the social, economic, and sexual circumstances considered appropriate for those societies. Many view teenage motherhood as inappropriate. Although in reality, the label of teenage pregnancy and motherhood is accurate for any female who is pregnant or becomes a mother before the age of 20, teenage pregnancy is more commonly used to refer to 13-17-year olds—i.e., to girls rather than adults. Consequently, there are governmental strategies and a plethora of research aimed at determining the cause and limiting the number of teenage pregnancies.

Pregnant teenagers face many of the same obstetrics issues as older women, but there are sometimes additional medical and social concerns for younger mothers, particularly those under 16 and those living in developing countries.

In United States, teenage pregnancy and motherhood is often within marriage and does not incur a social stigma; over 50 percent of total births in America are to teenage mothers. However, the experience of pregnant teenagers who have children out of wedlock in countries such as Brazil and Mexico are treated as shameful. Complications of pregnancy and childbirth are the leading cause of mortality among women between the ages of 15-19 in such areas. The highest rate of teenage pregnancy in the world is in sub-Saharan Africa, where women tend to marry at an early age.

However, a recent report by Save the Children noted that of the 13 million children born annually worldwide to women less than 20 years of age, more than 90 percent are born in developing countries. In the developed world, the highest levels of teenage pregnancy are recorded in the United States and the lowest in Japan and South Korea. Since the 1970s, the overall ...