Teen Pregnancy

        Teen pregnancy is a very important issue, especially in the United States where approximately one million teenage girls become pregnant each year.  Through public assistance, foster care, and child health care these pregnancies cost the U.S. at least $7 billion per year.  About one third of girls in the U.S. will become pregnant before the age of 20, 8 in ten of these are unintended and 80% are to unmarried teens.          

        There are many health risks not only for the teen but for the baby.  One third of teen pregnancies end in abortion but those who choose to carry out their pregnancy run the risk of experiencing complications.  This is mostly because teens are more likely to smoke, drink alcohol, take drugs, and eat unhealthily during their pregnancy.  Smoking during a pregnancy can cause the baby to be extremely premature or the baby can be born with SIDS or sudden infant death syndrome.  Premature babies can also have under developed organs and are more than 100 times as likely to die.  Other problems that prematurity can cause include breathing problems, bleeding in the brain, vision loss and intestinal problems.  During a pregnancy it is very important to have prenatal care and because of lack of money teens usually don’t get the proper care they need.  

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There are also many other problems that teen pregnancy can cause other than problems dealing with physical health.  Only a few teens look at adoption as an option which contributes to teen mothers living in poverty and dropping out of school.  Only 40% of teen mothers go on to graduate high school and even less go to college.  Without a good education a teenage mother may lack important job skills making it hard to find or keep a job.  This can cause a teen to depend on her family or a welfare check for money.  About 64% of high school ...

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