Teenage girls who become pregnant tend to view pregnancy as a way to form or enhance connections with others, and are less likely to think they are unprepared to raise a child. Pregnant teens who are 18 or 19 years old, however, acknowledge that they lack preparedness, but say there are advantages to having a baby earlier in life. These are just a few of the surprising observations from researchers examining issues surrounding teen pregnancy in the current issue of Pediatrics. "We need to help teenagers identify ways to connect with others in life besides motherhood," said study author Cynthia Rosengard, at Rhode Island Hospital. "If those connections are lacking in a teen-ager's life, that's something we all need to look at - whether we're parents, teachers or physicians."
The subjects in the study were all pregnant and aged between 12 and 19. They were given a survey that asked open-ended questions about the advantages and disadvantages of being pregnant as a teenager compared to waiting until they were older. While the teens' answers varied, there were common themes.
Among the advantages, they believed a baby would help them form connections with others, such as bringing them closer to their boyfriend or creating a family. One 13-year-old noted, "being able to play along with your child not only being his/her parent but being a friend." Some said if they had a baby early in life; that would give them more time later to accomplish what they wanted. One adolescent said her child would be older when she wanted to become a lawyer. Others expressed concerns about fertility later in life.
Some girls said that having a baby would require them to mature and take on more responsibility; one said that motherhood would keep her from drinking and doing drugs. A 15-year-old wrote "the good thinks (sic) are that I have someone to live for."
Some of the disadvantages noted by the girls were increased responsibility, missing out on typical adolescent experiences, juggling school and motherhood, and financial problems. The disadvantages outnumbered the advantages in the survey, possibly because society sends many negative messages about teen-age pregnancy, Rosengard noted. However, because the teens were already aware of some of the drawbacks, intervention efforts should reinforce these challenges. "We can say that if you happen to get pregnant or you choose to get pregnant, you're most likely going to have to put aspects of your life on hold. Chances are that you are going to miss out on being a teenager because there are more responsibilities. Perhaps if these disadvantages were more salient to these adolescents, they might have been able to do more to avoid a pregnancy," Rosengard added.
Rosengard's concerns are reinforced by the poor health outcomes that frequently derive from teenage pregnancy. For example, adolescents often delay seeking prenatal care, have poor prenatal health behaviors, and give birth to low birth-weight infants. Even healthy infants born to teenage mothers are at increased risk of neonatal death. Unfortunately, the collective responses in this study indicate that there is no uniform way to prevent teen pregnancy. "You really need to know who you're talking to and where they're coming from, and that should help you to tailor the way you intervene," lamented Rosengard.
Source: Rhode Island Hospital
