Teenage Pregnancy
A teenage pregnancy can be defined as a teenage girl who is below aged 20, and becoming pregnant. Most of them are unmarried pregnancy which can not be protected by certain laws. Since the beginning of 2010, the case of teenage births which occurred in Malaysia has increased from 14000 to 18000 annually.[1] "On average, there are 1,500 cases of teen girls getting pregnant each month or 50 cases a day in the country," Health Minister Datuk Seri Dr S.Subramaniam told reporters after the launch of the national-level 'Generasiku Sayang' programme by the Permaisuri of Johor Raja Zarith Sofiah Sultan Idris Shah.[2] From the statement, we know that this issue is getting widespread in nation. Data from the United Nations Children’s Fund (UNICEF) Malaysia found that they usually have some similar characteristics. For examples, they live in poor lodging condition, drop out of school with low qualifications and be unemplyed or get a low-paid job.
The main factor that contributes to this issue is lacking of sex education and information about the reproductive sexual health, especially lack of access to contraceptive devices.[3] Next, teenagers are easily to be encouraged by peer to engage themselves in sexual activity. Their sexual behaviour may be affected by alcohol and drugs which will make their mind become muddy, then it cause they can not make the right decision. In addition, the teenagers, who face poor financial situation and low educational standard or have low self-esteem, tend to find a shortcut which earn more money in a short period to upgrade their life standard. For example, they usually find themselves an investor who is also called as “sugar daddy”, so the investor will invest materially on them. Some developing countries still maintain the customs and traditions that encourage them to early marriage. Some adolescents also exposure to violence, abuse and family strife at home which will leads to rape and cause the cases of teenage pregnancy increase. Besides, girls who mature early are more probably to take part in sexual intercourse which in succession puts them at greater risk of teenage pregnancy at a younger age. A study conducted in 2006 found that adolescents who were more revealed to sexuality in the media social were also more probably to join in sexual intercourse.
Through this discussion, I want to share the experience of my friend. She was a poor class student and became a teenage mother when she was studying secondary school. She feel unsecured and worry about her future when she found out that she was pregnant. She disagreed to do the abortion when she had discussion with her family members and she decided to stop her education to prepare for the delivery. Some relatives of my friends despise my friend after knowing she is unmarried pregnancy. Luckily, her boyfriend took his responsible of taking good care of her and her baby. They got married and able to provide a complete family for their child. Although they have to work hard at very young age to earn family expenses, they do not give up on their pledge of love and keep on manage the family. From this case, we can see that the hardness being a teenage mother and also the responsibility to take care of the whole family.
The main effect on children of the teen mother is that they will probably grow up in an uncompleted family. They may be abandoned by their father or both of the parents. This is because parents might think that the children is an unexpected result of their relationship and they do not want to take the responsibility to take care of their children, so they decide to give up on the custody of the children. When the guardian of the children is either mother or father, it will pressure single parent on the way parenting their children. Most of the children will become a victim of abuse when they grow up in single-parent family. It is said because single parent has to pay fully attention on their children and also needs to work in order to cover living expenses and other expenses. Single parent may hard to handle this situation and may release their temper on the children. In addition, single parent may not able to provide them a good living standard or electronic gadgets. It may indirectly lower the self-esteem of children and children will involve themselves in crime in order to make people pay attention on them. They usually do less well than other friends, especially at school, they eventually become a teenage parent and start the bad cycle all over again and again.
There are some impacts on the teen girls who is teenage pregnancy. First, adolescent pregnancy still as the major contributor to maternal and child mortality. Problems relating to childbirth are the leading cause of death for teen girls globally. Due to pregnant girls and adolescents’ immature bodies, they also face other health risks and issues when they are having a baby. Babies born to younger mothers are also at greater risk compared with the babies born to mothers who is adults. In the aspect of teenagers, pregnancy is neither planned nor wanted at the moment. Teenagers typically adhere to unsafe abortion,especially those in countries where abortion is prohibited or highly restricted. This behaviour will put their health and lives at risk. Teenage pregnancy have also negative social and economic outcomes on girls, their families and communities. Unmarried pregnant adolescents may face rejections by parents and peers.
UM Specialist Centre (UMSC) experts have suggested that related authorities are established to put a strong concrete system in place to handle the issue that has now become uncontrolled. "The outreach team should work with the relevant public authority to establish realistic hands-on program and activities to educate teens on the consequences of births outside marriage," said UMSC obstetrician and gynaecologist Dr Aizura Syafinaz Ahmad Adlan.[4] Most of the asian parents are embarrassed to explain the anatomy of the body to their children. However, giving this educating children during their youth is a very vital task, so they can protect themselves against teen pregnancy. Therefore, parents have the responsibility to explain the related information to their kids. This can let them learn more about accurate knowledge about sex. School should invite a professional speaker and hold a talk about sex education in order to teach and guide students to implant themselves the right values and information about sex.
In the aspect of doctors, nurses, and other health care providers should encourage teens not to have sex behaviour and have to remind teens that condoms should also be used every time they have sex. They also can introduce teenagers some contraceptive methods. Here are different ways of contraception which are long-acting reversible contraception, hormonal contraception, barrier methods, emergency contraception, fertility awareness, permanent contraception, such as applying the intra uterine device (IUD), taking the pill, use condoms when having sex, as vasectomy and tubal ligation. These methods will reduce the probability of teenage pregnancy and control the increase in the cases of teen pregnancy.
There are some answers of frequently asked questions about the teenage pregnancy. Basically, a girl can get pregnant and have a baby once she has started to have menstrual periods. Menstrual period is a sign that a teen girl has started to ovulate which mean she has the ability to give birth. The average age for teen girls to have their first menstrual period is between the ages of 9 and 16. Actually, girls will get pregnant after the first time they have sex. It is normal and healthy not to have sex until marriage because it is the best way to prevent teenage pregnancy and most religions and cultures prohibit premarital sex. According to the Malaysian law which states that consensual sex with girls below 16 years old will lead to the male being charged with statutory rape, unless they are married.
In conclusion, teenagers is the period where they are more vulnerable to study pressure, identity crisis, peer pressure, parental expectation and others challenges. Most teen girls have not prepared to get pregnant. Teenage pregnancy carries extra health risks to both parties which are the mother and the baby. Teens usually do not get prenatal care soon enough, which will lead to problems later on. More research is required to get better understanding about the issue of teen pregnancy. Collaborative studies among nationwide hospitals and institutions should be the way forward for the best results. Hence, early sexual education, active parenting role and strong community support are very crucial for teenagers.