Tuesday, November 27, 2007 When a child becomes a parent
WHEN the child becomes a parent is considered a huge problem. The costs associated with teenage pregnancy and its consequences including the physical risks on the life of the adolescent mother and the child, the emotional and mental sufferings, the lost productivity and opportunities are not exactly known but they are enormous.
Teenage pregnancy is not uncommon. More than 20% of sexually active adolescent girls will become pregnant within 1 month and more than 50 per cent within 6 months of sexual contact.
Fifty per cent of pregnant adolescents are younger than 16 years, some are as young as 11 or 12 years of age. About 50% of teenage pregnancy progress to delivery.
Mortality and morbidity tend to be greater among the young pregnant adolescents. Maternal mortality is quite high at a rate of 564 deaths per 1000 live births in mothers less than 15 years of age. The complications of pregnancy include toxemia of pregnancy, hemorrhage, infections and complications related to labor and delivery. Infants borne to adolescent mothers as compared to those borne of adult mothers are twice as likely to be of low birth weights and twice as likely to die during the first year of life.
Research data are inconclusive whether the risks of pregnancy are due to socioeconomic factors (poverty, delayed and/or insufficient prenatal care, poor general health and nutrition, substance use and abuse, etc.) or due to the intrinsic difficulties that the adolescent is not yet developmentally ready to become pregnant.
They are developmentally immature and have inadequate knowledge of child development and child rearing. Their mothering abilities therefore are inadequate. The younger the mother the less likely she is to show closeness to the baby. They tend to show less acceptance and sensitivity.
Although adolescent mothers are noted to exhibit high levels of physical interactions, they engage relatively less in verbal interactions. Studies have shown that adolescent mothers tend to have more negative attitudes and high tendency to physically abuse their children.
More than 80% of teenage pregnancies are unintentional and 50 per cent of births are illegitimate. Relationships involving living together outside of marriage are common. Even if adolescents marry, relationships are unstable and separations are common.
However, other studies have demonstrated that relationships with the fathers of these babies are durable. Most adolescent mothers have known the fathers for more than two years prior to pregnancy. Sixty five percent of fathers have frequent contacts with the mother and the child.
Fathers of babies borne to adolescent mothers vary in age from 15-60 years. Usually the father is 2-3 years older than the adolescent mother. When the father is considerably older, sexual abuse should be considered.
Most of these fathers are at the disadvantage in terms of occupation, employment and education. Studies have shown that many adolescent fathers accept the responsibilities of parenthood, will remain involved, and therefore are in the position to exert a major influence on the adolescent mother's emotional stability, decision making, and on the infant's cognitive and behavioral development.
However, some adolescent fathers have committed serious legal offenses (theft, vandalism, assault, etc) and other problem behaviors.
Approach to management is more of prevention. Delaying the early onset and preventing the adverse consequences of premature sexual activities. Results of numerous studies have shown that few adolescents are fully aware of the risks involved in premature sexual activities. Counseling and health education is important to guide or change adolescent behavior in a direction beneficial to the teenagers.
If pregnancy occurs, the adolescent should be informed about the consequences of pregnancy and the necessary choices available to them, the decisions they must make and finding the answers to the many questions they are confronted with. What am I going to do with the baby? With myself?. Who will be responsible for his support? What is the responsibility of the father? These are difficult questions which can be answered best in the family setting because it is the girl's family that will most often take the responsibility for both the adolescent mother and her child. It is important that the pregnant adolescent should be referred for prenatal care which should include in addition to good medical care, nutritional support, health and parenting education.
Because of her immaturity, the adolescent mother needs more information about child care and child development to prevent abuse and neglect by the teenage mother. She should also be encouraged to finish her schooling and to prevent the repeat of pregnancy.
Repeat adolescent pregnancy is common. Up to 30% become pregnant again within 1 year and 25-50% during the second year. This is common in a teenager who is not doing well at school, whose age is less than 16 years at first pregnancy and quite attached to the boyfriend who is 2-5 years older.
There is no other way around repeat pregnancy except prevention. Provide adolescent mothers with knowledge to make informed choices not to make the same mistake and avoid further damage to the lives affected by her teenage pregnancy. (PVI)
