A teen pregnancy could be loosely defined as a girl attaining motherhood before she reaches the legal age of adulthood. While teen pregnancy is looked down upon by most developed countries, certain ethnic groups in the world actually welcome and celebrate the phenomenon, as it is a clear sign of fertility in the young female. Her pregnancy confirms that she is perfectly capable of bearing children.
A teen pregnancy can actually be quite hazardous to both the mother and her infant. The teenaged girl is too young and her reproductive system, too vulnerable at this stage of her life. Under such circumstances, her falling pregnant and giving birth to a child can take a permanent toll on her whole system.
There are several factors causing a teen pregnancy. They are as follows:
Experimenting with sex
Lack of adequate knowledge of sex and the consequences of unsafe sex can many times be the root cause of teen pregnancies. The onset of puberty causes a huge rush of hormones in the body, giving rise to hitherto unknown sexual desires and the formation of a new identity of one's own sexuality. This, combined with a natural sense of rebellion and the desire to 'express freedom' results in the teen indulging in acts of sex without really considering how heinous this may prove to be in the future.
Peer pressure
Many teens living in developed countries indulge in very early sexual behavior due to undue pressure from their peers to behave in that particular way. Starting promiscuous behavior very early into adolescence increases the chances of teen pregnancies to a large extent. Being part of a teen group that indulged in this kind of behavior would result in each member indulging in sex because they felt they had to 'conform' to this group.
Failure of contraceptives
Nothing is foolproof with Mother Nature. No matter how careful you are and how many contraceptives you use, these might fail, leading to a pregnancy. The added problem during teenage is the lack of knowledge of using these contraceptives properly. For instance, emergency birth control pills or the 'morning after' pill is available freely over the counter at any pharmaceutical. But what many teenagers do not realize is that these can never work as regular birth control pills. Likewise, improper use of the condom leads to it tearing during the act, thus leading to a possible pregnancy.
Familial environment
The general environment in a family, studies indicate, can be the cause of teen pregnancies. It was seen that women who went through abuse and an unnatural home environment at a very young age, went ahead to become teenage mothers. Those coming from normal, loving families, on the other hand, were well-adjusted and carried on normally with life.
Teen pregnancy can prove to be very traumatic for the teenager, both in physical and emotional terms. In fact, this event may actually end up affecting her whole family as well. Though all countries of the world are trying to take the maximum amount of measures to curb teen pregnancy, this issue continues to raise its ugly head and make its presence felt from time to time.
PregnancyMelissa Fox is a health professional very interested in Teenage Pregnancy [http://www.earlysymptomsofpregnancy.org/teenage-pregnancy.html].
She enjoys writing inspirational articles for Real Living.
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