Adolescent pregnancy has always been a complicated issue both due to the social perception of the phenomenon and its health outcomes for the parent. As established by the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC, 2021), pregnancy is regarded as teen when the mother is aged between 15 and 19. Although every pregnancy is a unique experience predetermined by different factors, there are still some commonly accepted precursors to adolescent pregnancy, such as:
- Living in poverty;
- Having limited access to education;
- Having a mother who gave birth before the age of 20;
- Early sexual experience;
- Early experience with drugs and alcohol;
- Living in a single-parent house (“Pregnancy prevention,” n.d.).
With so many factors potentially leading to adolescent pregnancy, it is of paramount importance to secure the teens’ access to assisting services that either prevent undesired pregnancy or support during the journey of early parenthood. When speaking of national institutions, the Teen Pregnancy Prevention (TPP) Program initiated by the Office of Population Affairs should be considered as one of the most efficient efforts to address adolescent pregnancy (US Department of Health and Human Services, n.d.). This program funds major public initiatives aimed at sex education provided to teenagers from various socio-cultural backgrounds. As far as state organizations are concerned, the Henry D. Perry Education Center should be outlined for its initiative tailored for teen parents (“Teen parent program,” n.d.). This program is aimed at assisting young parents on their journey by creating a learning curriculum and social support.
The state of Florida, following suit of other states, has recently demonstrated a severe decrease in teen pregnancy rates. Thus, as of 2019, the teen birth rate constituted 16.2 births per 1000 females aged 15-19 (CDC, 2021). For the sake of comparison, in 2014, this indicator constituted 22.5, whereas, in 2005, the rates were as high as 42 births per 1000 females (CDC, 2021). Considering such data, it may be concluded that today’s state of affairs in the context of adolescent pregnancy demonstrates significant improvement in terms of education and prevention. Still, more efforts should be dedicated to providing adolescents with equal access to education and family planning.
References
Centers for Disease Control and Prevention [CDC]. (2021). Teen birth rate by state. Web.
Pregnancy prevention: Risks and protective factors. (n.d.). Youth.gov. Web.
Teen parent program. (n.d.). Henry D. Perry Education Center. Web.
US Department of Health and Human Services. (n.d.). Teen pregnancy prevention (TPP) program.Web.