African Teenage Pregnancy

Teenage mothers who did performed poor in academic, at an economic disadvantage, have a history of sexual abused in childhood and were raised by teenage parents were more likely to have a baby at a young age. Different racial and ethnic cultures/perspectives can also affect teen pregnancy. The risk factors do not play equally in every teen pregnancy case.

When we look at influences, it is hard to say what precisely is the main pressure of teen pregnancies in the United States is. Each year, almost 750,000 teenage women, in the United States of America, ages 15 to 19 become pregnant (U.S. Teenage Pregnancy Statistics, 2006). Worldwide, rates of

All races are susceptible. The most common cases of teen pregnancy occur in teens of poverty. Studies show that if the mother was raised in low income, chances skyrocket for that teen to end up pregnant before she becomes an adult. Most teenage unplanned pregnancies relate to the teen being too uncomfortable to ask their parent for proper birth control. Teens fear getting in trouble or judged by their parents, so they take the risk of not using protection.

Teenage pregnancy has long been acknowledged as an important health, social and economic problem in the United States, one that creates hardships for women and families and threatens the health and well-being of women and their infants. Unintended pregnancies span across age, race and religion, with a specific negative impact among the teenage population. According to the Center for Disease Control (CDC, 2016) In 2015, a total of 229,715 babies were born to women aged 15–19 years, for a birth rate of 22.3 per 1,000 women in this age group. Birth rates are also higher among Hispanic and African American adolescents than any other race. In 2014, Hispanic adolescent females ages 15-19 had the highest birth rate of 38 births per 1,000

Teen pregnancy is still a major issue regardless of the declining pregnancy rate. In 2006 birthrates among teenage girls age ranging from 15-17 were more than 3 times as high as

There are 61 million U.S. women in their childbearing years at risk of unplanned pregnancy. The risk is greatest among 15-19 year olds (18%).

Based on the readily available images broadcast from films, MTV and other mass media, one might assume that the teen pregnancy epidemic is on the rise. In one respect, this health risk condition has rarely been more culturally visible than it is right now. However, it does bear noting that teen pregnancy has actually been on the decline in the United States over the last two decades. According to the source provided by Sheets (2012), "from 1990 to 2008, the teen pregnancy rate decreased 42 percent (from 117 to 68 pregnancies per 1,000 teen girls)."

A large majority of people believe that teen pregnancy happens mostly in larger communities and urban settings, but teen pregnancy happens all over the country in even the smallest of communities. Families living in poverty, single parent homes, and children with little discipline are often what come to mind when we hear

Although the rate of teen pregnancies has decreased since the early 90s, the rate of African-American teen pregnancies and Hispanic teen pregnancies is still significantly higher white American teens. “ According to the US Teen Pregnancy Statistics Among Black and Hispanic women 15-19 the nationwide pregnancy rate they both were higher than a white woman. Well It's because poverty plays a major role in why these teens are the higher ethnic group in teen pregnancy. A black or Hispanic girl are not as open, with birth control and some don't have the health care needed. Most teens aren’t as opened to telling their parents their having sex.

Teenage pregnancy has been viewed as an issue for many years, not only for teenage mothers but for babies as well. Much importance has been placed on this subject for the reason that although these rates are declining, they remain elevated. The United States represents over 600,000 American teen pregnancies every year, making this the highest rate in the industrialized world (Steinberg, 2017). Unfortunately, ethnic minorities in the United States have a predisposition to the many social, educational and economic disadvantages that in fact shape adolescent sexual behavior and lead to the decision of adolescent motherhood. This paper will illustrate teenage pregnancy rates over the last few years, the factors that impact teen pregnancy, contraception and the likelihood of teen pregnancies across different ethnic groups.

Teenage birth rates, defined as live births per one thousand 15-19-year-old US females, declined by 10% from 2012 to 2013 from 29.4 to 26.5. In fact, the birth rate has been on a steady decline over the past 20 years, from 61.8 in 1991 to 26.5 in 2013. Teenage pregnancy represents both a health and social inequality in our society. Specifically, teenage childbearing is a public health issue because teenage mothers are more likely to experience negative social outcomes such as dropping out of school. This is a self-reinforcing cycle, as children of teenage mothers face higher chances of poor academic achievement as well as getting pregnant or getting someone else pregnant in their teenage years (CDC). Although the overall rates of teenage pregnancy have dropped, ultimately, the variations in the rates reflect the intersecting disparities regarding race and ethnicity, income inequality, geography, and environmental factors, which in turn affect access to medical care, education, and resources.

The incidence of teen births in the United States has reached a historic all time low throughout the last couple of years but teen girls are still giving birth to 1700 babies a week. However, minorities are still amongst the highest group of teenagers having children among the age group between 15 and 19 years of age. The highest ethnic groups were comprised of Hispanics and Non-Hispanic blacks making up 57% of all US teen births in 2011, according to a study done by the CDC in 2011. American Indians and Alaskan Natives had the third highest birth rates at about 36 births per 1000 females. The smallest occurrence of teen births per 1000 came from the Asian/Pacific Islander population. However, the continuously low population group with teen pregnancies involved White individuals so the question remains, why are most minority groups more likely to give birth within their teenage years?

"Over one million teenage girls become pregnant each year. In the next 24 hours, about 3,312 girls will become pregnant. In addition, 43% of all adolescents become pregnant before the age of 20. These are incredible statistics when you consider that there are only 31 million females. The United States has the highest adolescent pregnancy rate in the developed world. As statistics show one in nine women between the ages of 15 through 19 become pregnant each year. Also, every 26 seconds a teenage girl becomes pregnant and every 56 seconds a child of a teenage mother is born."

"Teen pregnancy in the United States: In 2015, a total of 229,715 babies were born to women aged 15-19 years old, for a birth rate of 22.3 per 1,000 women in this age group. This is another record for U.S. teens and a drop of 8% from 2014. Although reasons for the declines are not totally clear, evidence suggests these declines are due to more teens abstaining from sexual activity, and more teens who are sexually active using birth control than in previous years. Still, the U.S. teen pregnancy rate is substantially higher than in other western industrialized nations, and racial/ethnic and geographic disparities in teen birth rates persist (cdc.gov)." As teenagers (in the United States), we are peer pressured or tempted to try new things. Some teens tend to try out drugs, and alcohol. However, some are having unprotected sex in which, is leads to having babies. This is called, teenage pregnancy. This has caused the United States to create records based off of the statistics and facts given from, researchers across the United States. In order to help prevent teenage pregnancy in the United States, teenagers must understand why, having a baby now isn’t such a smart move on their part.

The teen pregnancy rate had decreased by the maximum of about 55 percent. Most teen birth rates had also gone down about 64 percent, but yet teen pregnancies and birth rate for teenagers ages 15-19 in the U.S still remains one of the highest comparable countries. Due to parenthood, most of teen moms drop out of school. More than 50% of teen mothers never graduate to get their diploma. Sexually active teens that don’t use any type of protection has a 90 percent chance of becoming pregnant within a year, 84 percent of teen pregnancies are unplanned.