Teenage Pregnancy Is Not A Blessing
Teenage Pregnancy Is Not A Blessing
Teenage Pregnancy Is Not A Blessing
HEART Q. ZARAGOSA
some place in the scope of thirteen and nineteen years of age. There are, however, young ladies
as young as ten who seem to be sexually active and every so often become pregnant and
conceive an offspring. While being comprehensive of all young ladies who can become pregnant
and conceive a child, the term utilized is adolescent pregnancy, which portrays the emotional and
biological development stage called puberty. Teenage pregnancy is one of the issues facing
We chose this topic for the reason that it is a timely issue not only in the Philippines but
as well as in other countries. This is a global phenomenon that everyone can see the cause and
there are also consequences when it happens, its effects will be felt not only on the health but
also on the economic and social life of the person, families, and their communities. Nowadays, it
can be seen everywhere that there are more teenagers abstaining from sexual activity and
performing it without using any birth control, resulting in adolescent pregnancy. Teenage
pregnancy is a topic sensitive enough to discuss for the reason that the Philippines is a religious
country and believes that youth is the hope of the nation. And the writers of this paper are
teenagers as well. Choosing this topic with the aim to provide facts about teenage pregnancy and
how it has all those bad effects not only on the physical body of a woman who is conceiving a
child but as well as the mental health and social status of a person.
The objective of this paper is to provide ample information about the causes and effects
of teenage pregnancy as well as provide suggestions on how to lessen the numbers of teenage
childbirth. Discussing factors that teenage pregnancy is indeed not a blessing in any form nor a
situation to be romanticized. The phenomenon has gone far and given high numbers of cases
from all over the world. The outcome of having intercourse without proper use of contraceptives
has resulted in many unimaginable things done by no other than teenage parents. It is enough
reason to suggest why it should be resolved as early as possible. Too much is bad. Too many
cases of adolescent pregnancy are bad, and should be resolved before it is too late to even plan
the solution.
The World Health Organization reports that around 16 million young ladies aged 15-19
conceive an offspring every year, generally 11% of all births around the world. Practically 95%
of these births happen in developing nations. The adolescent fertility rate overall was assessed to
be 55.3 per thousand for the 2000-2005 period, intending that on normal, around 5.5% of young
people conceive an offspring every year. In the Philippines, as per the most recent Vital Statistics
Report delivered by the National Statistics Office, in 2008 an all-out 1,784,316 births were
enlisted; of these 10.4%, (186,527 births) were brought into the world to moms under 20 years
old. Complete enrolled births in 2008 expanded by 2% from the earlier year's 1,749,878 births
while births to young moms expanded by 7.6 %, from 173,282 of every 2007. According to the
UNFPA (2020) the teenage pregnancy rate in the Philippines was 10% in 2008, down to 9% in
2017. Live births by young moms (aged 10-19) in 2016 a total of 203,085, which somewhat
diminished to 196,478 out of 2017 and 183,000 out of 2018. In any case, the Philippines has one
of the greatest young adult rates of birth among the ASEAN Part States.
However, the two years-worth of lockdowns had constrained young Filipinos to remain at
home, restricting social interactions with peers and incidentally lessening potential open doors
for sexual experiences. From 495 births each day in 2019, the pace of births to adolescent moms
went somewhere around 13% the next year. The numbers presented are horrifying to think that
those teenagers should be going to school and learning about different things are nursing and
taking care of their own child when they are still kids themselves.
There are many determinants why teenage pregnancy has skyrocketed and is still a timely
issue. Lack of information on sexual and reproductive health and rights is one of the many
causes why teenage pregnancy is still rampant. There are many places not only in the Philippines
but as well as in other countries where sexual and reproductive health is a very sensitive topic.
The people in those kinds of places are not open to sex education and it can lead to difficulty
accessing information about sex and reproduction. Especially in places where they have different
cultural beliefs and do not entertain abortions and contraceptives. Many young women living in
secluded areas have little to no information about protected intercourse resulting in teenage
pregnancies. Sexual and reproductive health (SRH) programs are frequently not focused on
because of an absence or lack of funding and the emphasis that is put on community-based HIV
Lack of information on sexual and reproductive health and rights does not only revolve
around not having enough knowledge about safe sex but also knowledge about their rights on
sexual reproductive health. The right to life, where no woman's life should be ought to be
and administrations. This additionally incorporates the option to be protected, as well as having
safe and fulfilling sexual coexistence. The right to liberty and security of the person where no
woman should be forced into sterilization, forced abortion, and most importantly forced
pregnancy. The right to equality, and to be free from all forms of discrimination, having the
freedom to express one's sexuality and reproductive choices. The right to information and
education, this includes admittance to full data on the advantages, dangers and effectiveness of
all methods for fertility regulation. All the choices taken are made based on full, free and
informed consent. The right to decide whether or when to have children, teenagers would have
the knowledge that even when they have the right to decide when to have children, it comes with
great responsibility and family planning would have been introduced. The right to the benefits of
scientific progress, should they have known that they have every right to benefit from the sexual
and reproductive health services that are safe, effective, and acceptable, it would lessen the
chance to have early pregnancies. Spreading openness about safe sex and sex education can help
teenagers to be mindful of all sexual activities. Both local and national governments should put
more attention on the stigma of buying different contraceptives and availability of the products.
PEER PRESSURE
Peer pressure also played a role in the cause of teenage pregnancy. Negative surrounding
of circle friends that teenagers engage in their teenage years has a great impact on how they see
and live life. Teenagers are easily influenced by the environment they belong to. They are
curious people. They love exploring things and experimenting with new experiences such as
drinking alcohol and using drugs with their peers in gathering. The cause of excessive
without any protection. After a month, two red lines on the pregnancy test, a child is waving.
There are many cases where the reason of teenage pregnancy is caused by the pressure from
friends that having sexual intercourse makes you cool and superior to those teens who have not
SOCIO-ECONOMIC STATUS
Socio-economic status is also one of the reasons why someone get pregnant at an early
age. Teenagers who grew up on poor areas are likely prone to have intercourse without any
protection at a young age. It is because they grew up in a negative environment seeing people
getting pregnant and so they will think that it is normal to conceive at an early age. They are the
people who grew up in an environment where the residents have low educational goals and are
not well guided or they lack involvement with their parents. They are influenced and become
friends with people who do not have a strong role model or someone they can be an inspiration
to. Adolescent young ladies who experience childhood in a hazardous and eccentric climate
could have negative future goals which would settle on them take unsafe choices. Teenagers who
grew up with a single mother or with the absence of a father figure are more vulnerable and may
seek for a better life as well as male companionship. The cycle of early childbearing may likely
continue to those teenagers born to teenage mothers that lives in a poor area.
SEXUAL VIOLENCE
There are cases where sexual violence is the cause of early childbearing. Many cases
have been reported in different countries. According to WHO, there are estimated 120 million
girls aged under 20 years old experienced forced sexual contact in 2020. That same year, it is
estimated that 1 in 8 of the world’s children were sexually abused before they reached the age of
18, and 1 in 20 girls aged 15-19 have been forced to have sex in their lifetime. For some young
ladies, sexual abuse prompts undesirable pregnancy as adolescent young ladies who have been
constrained into sex are less likely to have the opportunity to use contraceptives. Sexual violence
may not only cause unwanted pregnancy but as well as trauma and injury to the victim. In the
data from 2018, there is a greater number where the partners of teenage mother are older than
them. In the year 2014, out of 2,250 adolescent mothers that ages from 10 to 14 years old, only
64 of their partners were of the same age. The remaining more than 2,000 are with their partners
older than them (Lalu, 2020). There are cases where the reason young women get pregnant is
because their partners force or pressure them to have unsafe and unprotected sex in order to say
or express that they love and have genuine affections for one another. They are being
SOCIAL CONSEQUENCES
Eary childbearing should not be taken lightly. Its effects on a young girl conceiving a
child are not easy. It affects not only the physical body but also the different aspects of one’s life.
Having enough knowledge on the effects of early pregnancy is a great way to prevent it. Being
knowledgeable is power. The negative effects of teenage pregnancy on society are also dire.
Society cannot accept the concept of teenage pregnancy. It is considered a taboo topic in some
countries. Teenage parents are prone to social discriminations, they may as well don’t get the
support that they need, and the job to support their family. Due to pregnancy, adolescent parents
put their education on hold, some may even drop-out of school to focus more on taking care of
their offspring. Other than that, teenage parents feel humiliated to even go back to school
accompanied with the fear of harassments from fellow students and other people. The stigma of
being a teenage parent will be likely felt inside their family and communities. Social obligations
may change as well, from being a teenager to a teenage mother who do not have a job that pay
well, and not getting respect from friends and family. Suffering from the said effects may cause
ECONOMIC CONSEQUENCES
Early childbearing can hold teen parents to continue their education and thus affect the
country’s economic growth. Being unable to complete higher education means have lesser ability
to gain more income over the course of their life, causing economic losses to the country.
Adolescent pregnancy is pulling down the Philippines' monetary development, as per the nation's
top economist. For the Philippines to cut down poverty incidence to just 14% by 2022,
Socioeconomic Planning Secretary Ernesto Pernia says that the public authority should
investigate teenage pregnancy first. (Rivas, 2019) The Commission on Population and
Development (PopCom) prior revealed that there are around 1.2 million youngsters having kids
consistently. As a result, the population is being increased by teenage pregnancy. Around 30,000
of these young moms have encountered repeated pregnancies. It is estimated that 30 billion pesos
POVERTY
Things can get even worse if the father did not take the responsibility to father the child
and give support. In this case, the mother will shoulder all the responsibilities in order to finance
and buy all the necessities needed for the child. Enabling the mother to put more focus on work
rather than going back to school. Limiting the opportunities to have a better future employment.
Lack of financial support will lead to poverty. Poverty is both a reason and a result of adolescent
pregnancy. Over 60% of youthful, unmarried moms live in families that qualify as being in
poverty (Gaille, 2016). It is important to note that not all the blame belongs on the mothers with
regards on the teenage pregnancy. According to Gaille, just 1 of every 5 adolescent men, the
fathers of these children, will proceed to wed the moms. Poverty does not only affect the teenage
parents, it causes greater effect on their offspring. Children born in poverty are less likely to
improve or score highly in school. For the reason that they lack school necessities or their
parents are fully occupied on putting food on their table than guiding them the basics of learning
like writing and reading. Poverty will enhance the chance of repeating the cycle of early child
birth as they are born in a negative environment where teenage pregnancy is likely to foster.
MENTAL HEALTH
Experiencing constant discrimination and hearing acidic words from families, friends,
and people in their community will put teenage moms in a dire psychological situation. Studies
show that adolescent moms show greater risk in experiencing both prenatal and postpartum
depression. This could be on the grounds that teenage mothers are more likely to have experience
mental and/or physical abuse, as well as experiencing higher level of stress. Another example of
why mental health is at risk is because teenage moms experience a higher level of guilt for being
pregnant accidentally. The transition to being a teenager to a mother will be hard as they battle
not only the people surrounding them but themselves as well. Accepting the fact that they have
done something they can’t undo and disappointing their families especially their parents will
haunt them for many months. Some teenage moms will resort to abortion or running away in fear
of causing pain and disappointment. In view of studies 8 out of 10 adolescent dads don't wed the
mother of their youngster. (Dsadmin, 2022) Young ladies are passed on to confront every
criticism and discrimination by others including their families. Regardless of whether their
families are being supportive, the feeling of abandonment from somebody you trust turns into the
reason for extreme loneliness. Teenage mom’s experiences anxiety on how to raise their child,
because they are still children themselves. They worry where to get money for prenatal check-up
and the necessities needed in order to raise a child. It is no big surprise that youthful moms
PHYSICAL CONSEQUENCES
According to the World Health Organization, adolescent mothers ages 10-19 years old
face higher risk of eclampsia (seizures that occur in pregnant people with preeclampsia),
(an infection that is in the bloodstream) than women ages 20-24 years old. Adolescent mothers
do not only suffer the risks but as well as the babies being conceive. The infants have higher risk
of low birth weight, preterm birth and extreme neonatal condition. Low birth weight can also
affect brain development. It has been proven that children born under-weight have learning
difficulties. Teenage pregnancy can affect adolescent mothers to be on higher risk of pregnancy-
related high blood pressure or preeclampsia that can also harm the kidney and can be fatal to
both mother and the baby. Pregnant youngsters also have a higher possibility of becoming
anemic. Anemia is a decrease in the quantity of red blood cells (RBCs). This can cause you to
feel frail and tired and can influence your child’s turn of events. (Carey, 2018)
childbirth are the leading cause of death universally for young ladies ages 15 to 19. In addition,
infants lack complete development of any parts of the body and brain. Depending on how
premature the baby is, it could lead to serious lifelong difficulties and health development. If the
infant is born underweight, they may experience difficulty in breathing and feeding.
The risks mentioned should be enough reasons teenagers should avoid teenage
pregnancy. It does not only endanger their lives but they are also jeopardizing the life of an
infant. It is advisable to have protection when doing intercourse but it is still not appropriate to
engage in any sexual activities as a teen. It can lead to curiosity to try different sexual activities
and can cause early childbirth. Aside from different methods of contraception, the best way to
avoid teenage pregnancy is to not have any intercourse at a young age. Before jumping to the act
of doing the deed, self-reflect can be done. Be active in sex education symposiums that is held in
schools and gain knowledge about safe sex and how teenage pregnancy affects different aspects
of life.
The causes and effects mentioned are enough information to say that teenage pregnancy
is not a blessing. It does not only hinder a teenager’s education but it can affect a teen mom’s
body and also cause more indigence to the present and future generation. How can a teenager
provide for her upcoming child when a teenage mom mostly relies on their parents for shelter,
food, and finance? Teenagers who are born on a poor family that barely make ends meet because
of financial problems would add another weight that requires more expenses, calling it a blessing
is a big no. Having a child might make a person happy, but having financial instability while
conceiving a child comes with many problems. Teenage mothers who are experiencing poverty,
bear in mind that it is better to focus on your studies and aim high so that when the time comes,
you future child/children won’t have to experience the poverty that you have gone through. Do
not justify the consequence of your inappropriate action or your bad decisions. Calling early
childbirth a blessing will not solve all the problems that comes with it.
CONCLUSION
In conclusion, teenage pregnancy has many determinants that greatly causes the high
number of teenage pregnancies. Lack of information on sexual and reproductive health, where
basic knowledge on sex education and different contraceptives should have been given more
attention to teach to teenagers. Peer pressure that influences a teenager of how he/she view and
live life. Socio-economic status where teenagers born on poor areas are likely to be pregnant
early because of negative environment as well as lack of parental guidance. Sexual violence that
played a great part on why teenage pregnancy has a great number of cases. It is where adolescent
women are forced into having intercourse along with hurting them physically. Consequences of
teenage pregnancy do not only affect the wellbeing of an adolescent mom. It affects the social
life of a teen conceiving a child, causing the teenage mom to hear acidic remarks, and experience
discrimination from friends and family, as well as from other people of the community. Teenage
pregnancy has an effect on the country’s economic growth as it adds number on population and
problems that cannot be easily solved for the reason that the teenage mom or parents can only get
jobs that pays low because they did not finish school. Teenage pregnancy harms the mental
health of a teenage mom, they are more likely to be depressed than adults conceiving a child. The
effects of teenage pregnancy physically do not only affect the adolescent mom, but it can also
endanger the life of the baby. Teenage mom can have different physical illness like eclampsia
Conceiving too early in life can have its detrimental effects on a person’s different
aspects of life. The determinants and consequences are enough information that teenage
pregnancy is not a blessing, rather it is a predicament that should be avoided. In order to avoid
early childbearing, do not have unprotected sex, always use contraception, or better yet, do not
engage in any sexual activities at all. Choose the circle of friends that pulls you on the positive
side of life. There is no problem on wanting to have a child, but the situation has to be chosen.
Having a child when a person is still a teenager and living the life in poverty will just make the
life of the child heavy. Do not pass the hardships onto the innocent child who did not even wish
RECOMMENDATION
properly and as early as possible. In order to lessen or hopefully in the long term, cease, the case
of teenage pregnancy, it is recommended that the government should put more attention on
spreading educational awareness on safe sex. The use of different contraception should be
available and free for those people in poor areas that can not afford to spend money because of
financial problems. The national and local governments should spread the openness of using
contraceptive in order to encourage people not to be ashamed of using a certain contraceptive. If
ever there is a teenage mother, it is best to end the stigma and rather, give free service and
assistance as well as ensure the safety of both the mother and the baby.
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