The top two highest burden’s of teen pregnancy are unsafe abortions and maternal hemorrhage, which can ultimately lead to death. Others include sepsis and hypertension. Approximately 1 million women face life-threatening complications each month, many young women and children themselves. Health care providers should be aware of cultures and beliefs in their area so they can give the best care possible. (Borgen Magazine, 2014)

Around 25 million unsafe abortions occur each year, most of which occur in developing countries where abortion may be illegal or unavailable. An unsafe abortion is performed by those lacking the necessary skills, an/or an environment lacking in medical standards. This life-threatening procedure can cause long-term damage or disease due to incomplete abortion, sepsis, bleeding, and injury to the internal organs, such as the uterus. Early childbearing can have increased risks to babies, as well as their adolescent mothers. Risks include low birth weight, preterm delivery and other severe neonatal conditions. (Wikipedia, 2020)

An unwanted pregnancy can result in the inability to finish education and find unemployment, while being left for poverty. The cycle can continue with the infant, and statistics can increase thereafter.

At least 10 million unintended pregnancies occur each year for girls aged 15-19 in developing regions. Adolescent Pregnancies, while a global problem, are more likely to occur in marginalized communities. In many societies, girls are under pressure to marry and have children early. (Revere Health, 2018)

In the least developed countries, at least 39% of girls marry before they are 18 years old, and 12% before they are 15. Girls can often choose to become pregnant because of their lack of educational and employment prospects, and cultural beliefs. (Kirchengast, 2016)

Countries that do not give access to contraceptives due to lack of resources, religious beliefs, and restrictive laws is a huge risk for youth pregnancies. Adolescents may lack the autonomy or knowledge to ensure the consistent and correct use of contraception.

Women also have other barriers in accessing contraceptives, such as transportation, marital status, strict laws, health worker bias, and financial constraints. An additional risk of unintended pregnancy is sexual violence. More than a third of the girls in some countries claim that their first sexual encounter was coerced or forced.

Although rates of teen pregnancies have been reduced in the United States, they are still too high. Learning how to speak to your patients, and teach about contraceptives early, can help to continue reducing teen pregnancy rates in our own communities.

Key Players

Multiple foundations are working towards education and awareness. They have several challenges, including reaching the population in need of contraception while fighting strict laws, culture, beliefs, and unequal rights of women and children.

WHO, World Health Organization, works with partners to advocate for attention to adolescents such as, “WHO’s Guidelines for preventing early pregnancy and poor reproductive outcomes in adolescents in developing countries.” (WHO, 2019)They provide information, tools and resources to affiliates and other nongovernmental organization to prevent adolescent pregnancy.

Future goals of WHO:

World Health Organization collaborates with Family Planning 2020, a global partnership to give access to contraceptives to all women and girls by the end of 2020. (WHO, 2019) WHO works closely with partners to contribute to the global efforts of ending children becoming wives and mothers. Some of these partners are UNICEF, UNFPA and UNWomen, for example, to end childhood marriages.

UNFPA, United Nations Population Fund, supports the reproductive health of women and children in over 150 countries. They provide reliable access to contraceptives, training to health workers, and sex education. They also work to end gender-based violence, female genital mutilation (3 million girls annually), and child-based marriage. Their mission statement is, ” to deliver a world where every pregnancy is wanted, every childbirth is safe, and every young person’s potential is fulfilled.”

Future goals of UNFPA:

UNFPA would like to end the unmet need for family planning, as 214 million women do not have access to modern family planning. They also aim to end preventable maternal death with the right to proper health care, and to end gender-based violence and harmful practices. (UNFPA, 2019) This commitment is tied in to Plan International, and their goal date is set for 2030.

Plan International is an organization that strives to advance the rights of children and provide equality for girls. They work to fight discrimination of girls in education, health, work and family life and provide gender equality. Some of their other goals are: to end all violence against children, end child marriage (which would affect an estimated 70 million girls over the next 5 years), insure all children complete nine years of quality, free and safe education, have a birth registration and legal identity for every child, and all girls and boys to have a voice and effectively participate in decisions affecting them. (Plan International, 2019)

Future goals of Plan International:

Plan International works with Global Goals, or Sustainable Development Goals for the year 2030.They want to change policies and practices so that their goals are implemented by national governments to meet the needs of girls and young women. Types of programs revolve around the right to education, child protection, and youth decision-making and accountability. (Plan International, 2019)

While helping to prevent teen pregnancy should be a goal for medical professions, they should also be a support to helping teens overcome their early pregnancies and out of poverty.