Teenage Pregnancy Prevention Classes

Teenage Pregnancies Prevention
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Introduction
More than 75% of the teenagers that get pregnant do not have the plans to start a family, which means that their pregnancies are consequential to their sexual habits. According to data collected by end of last year, 2013, for every 1,000 female adolescents between the age of 15 and 19, there are on average about 26.6 births that take place. This translates to more than 270000 births, born to teenage girls. These are all births that occur outside any formal marriage institution, but, among teenagers playing around. While this figure may be quite high, there has bee a lot of improvements that have been recorded for the last two decades since 1991. In the year 1991, the birth rate was above 61.8 for every 1000 teenagers between the ages 15 and 19 (Office of Adolescent Health, 2014). This translates to more than 50% reduction in the teenage pregnancies rate. This has been due to the massive campaign efforts tat have gone into sex education and programs aimed at reducing the rate of teenagers getting pregnant including the use of contraceptives. However, while the figure may have reduced over the last two decades, this is still too high compared to other developed nations such as United Kingdom and Canada. Ironically, one in six of the births reported, is a repeat pregnancy. This means that the pregnant teenager is having their second or third child before they are 20 years old. This basically translates to more than 17% of the teenage pregnancies. This underlines the severity of the issue and why more needs to be done to alleviate the problem.
One of the major concerns other than the high figures of teenagers getting pregnant is the health risks involved for the baby and the mother involved. The teenager mothers and their babies have a high chance of developing complications some of which can be life threatening or deformities that will last a lifetime. This brings out some of the interventions that can be implemented to reduce the pregnancies and therefore the associated health risks (Office of Adolescent Health, 2014).
Thesis statement: teenage pregnancies and related risks to mothers and the newborn babies can be reduced through the sexual education carried out in pregnancy classes and through awareness and prevention programs.
Background
Teenage pregnancies in America
The highest majority of teenagers that are caught up in the issues of teen-pregnancies are usually in high school and a few in colleges. This basically means that they do not have the means to raise their children and still attend to their studies. In the year 2012, the teenage pregnancy rates were at 29.1 for every 1000 teenagers between the ages of 15 and 19 years old (Office of Adolescent Health, 2014). This means that the figure has significantly reduced when compared to the figures collected in 2013. It is estimated that there have been significant reduction in the year 2014.
Variations among the races and ethnic backgrounds
There are quite some significant variations that are note-worthy with reference to the ages of the teenagers their race and ethnic backgrounds. When comparing teenage pregnancies among thewhite, Hispanics and African American, some fundamental differences occur. According to the latest data from 2013, more than 73% of the teenagers that gave birth were between the ages 18 and 19 years old. According to the data, the teenage birth rate was higher among the Hispanics and the African Americans that there were among the white teenagers. The Hispanics came in first with more than 46 births per 1000, while the African Americans came in second with 43.9. The white adolescent females came in last with at least 20.5 in every 1000 adolescent females. According to data collected the previous year, one in eight (12%) adolescent females gives birth before they get to their 20th birthday. There were some significant differences amongst the races, such that the Hispanics had 20%, the African Americans had 18% and the whites had 9% (Office of Adolescent Health, 2014). Although these are high figure compared to other countries that are developed, there have been significant decline in the rates, with Hispanics dropping more than 39% since 2007, African Americans reducing by 41% and the white by 25%. The last two decades have also seen the most consistent drops compared to the rest of the years. It is important to note that these figures include all the births, that is, abortions, stillbirths and the live births.
Characteristics of likelihood
Characteristically, research indicates that there are differences in teenagers that are likely to get pregnant while in school while others are less likely. This means that not all teenagers are likely to get pregnant, but there is some common identifying traits those that do. Students that have a positive attitude towards their studies, scoring high grades, participating in school activities are less likely to get pregnant. However, students that have a poor attitude towards their education and studies in general have a high likelihood of getting pregnant. Additionally, those students that are borne of families where the parents only have a high school degree have a high likelihood of also getting a child before they are twenty.However, teenager whose parents bore them when they were much older and established, are less likely to get pregnant. Teenagers that live in wealthier neighborhoods with more elaborate social status are also less likely to get pregnant, compared to those from less economically neighborhoods.This indicates that personal and social economic status plays a great role in molding the child as well as their character and behavior.Additionally, the society plays a great role in the issue as well (Office of Adolescent Health, 2014).
Teenage pregnancy risks
Health risks
Compared to older mothers, the teenage mothers run the risk of developing health complication, which further implicates the baby in the process. Ideally, the teenage mothers tend to skimp in prenatal care, thereby becoming anemic as well as preeclampsia; one of the conditions that severe and associated closely with high blood pressure (Webmd.com, 2014). It is also common to find teenage mothers, suffering from vitamins deficiencies as well as inadequate weight gain (Eden, 2014). The teenage mothers also have the cervical complication associated with poor opening of the same. This means that most of the have to undergo cesarean section births. Most teenagers are also not cautious of substance abuse and unprotected sex, which further complicate their terms. As a result a good number of the babies may be under weight orborn prematurely with inadequate fetal growth (John, 2014).
Emotional and psychological risks
Other than the health risks, there are emotional and psychological risks that are associated with teenage pregnancies. During adolescence, teenagers are faced with emotional development that is quite difficult on a normal process. The pregnancies, which are also controlled by hormones in the body, may affect the balance and the teenagers will have a rough time trying to control their emotions and actions. At the same time, because they are fully developed and matured at the time of the pregnancy, it is very difficult for them to assume the duties and roles of a mother. Some are faced with abject hate for the baby and themselves (Eden, 2014). Others have unrealistic expectation of the responsibilities that are associated with rearing a child and end getting frustrated and sometimes suicidal. With increased stress levels, this is known to affect the health levels of both the baby and the mother and there have been cases of miscarriage associated with the same.
Social risks
Socially there also risks that will impact both the mother and the baby. Due to the responsibilities of taking care of the baby, chances are also high that their education is also going to be affected in a fundamental way. This could mean that their future is derailed by the responsibilities associated with the baby (Eden, 2014). This further implicates their financial stability in the future, as their chances of landing a proper job are slim due to the responsibilities and lack of education. Their family members and friends may also view and treat them differently, leading social isolation, as most people do not want to be associated with them (John, 2014).
Teenage Pregnancy Prevention Classes
The teenage prevention classes are designed in a manner that they help the teenagers overcome the fear of being viewed as compromised, given that most of the teenagers like to experiment out of peer pressure. As such this are classes that are designed with the main aim of making sure that the teenagers do not fall into the trap of getting pregnant. This is done through providing the right information on life and sex as well as how best they can protect themselves (Southernnevadahealthdistrict.org, 2014). There are several components that are common among the teenage pregnancy prevention programs, which form the basis of information and the objectives of the classes. Using these learning objectives, the number of unwanted pregnancies among the teenagers will come down even among the different ethnic and racial disparities (Webmd.com, 2014).
Anatomy and Physiology
This is a common aspect of the classes and mostly takes preference at the beginning of most programs as the teenagers are introduced to the classes. The bottom line of this component is to ensure that the teenagers understand their bod...