PROBLEMS FACED BY GIRLS FOR TEENAGE PREGNANCY

 

 

Teen or not, mother is a mother. Motherhood is a beautiful feeling. It is just that some mothers do not get to feel it because the family and society makes it worse. Getting pregnant at the right age  can be a very soothing moment for family and society but what about girls who get pregnant during their teenage years and the person who made her pregnant leaves her. Isn't it wrong? Yes it is and the sad part is their close ones do not support them at this point when they need them emotionally. Instead of blaming the guy as well, people tend to say that he is a guy, it is likely he will make these kinds of mistakes, but being a girl you should have taken care of yourself. It is very difficult for the girl to make her parents understand that she is already broken, someone whom she trusted her  body with has already broken her trust and shattered her into pieces. Teen moms have to face a lot, especially in India. Few people from the rural parts of India , get married very soon and tend to have many children. Now , why is that normal? It is normal because they are married, yeah, this is how society thinks.
Go to YouTube and search Teen mom. Lots of videos will pop up on your screen and you will also get a lot of options to watch but these people are mostly foreigners. These girls get pregnant with their boy friend and end up  staying together with their kid plus continue earning and their studies as well. Yeah, they look a bit more mature than all of us. Everybody doesn’t have a sad story in reel life. Most teen girls around 15 to 18 years get pregnant. These girls don't only face societal pressure , they face medical problems as well. Sometimes, they are not even given a chance to decide whether they want the baby or not.
 
STATISTICS
 
According to feminism India's 2017 survey , there were almost 11.8 Million teenage pregnancies in India. According to National family health survey 4 which is also known as NFHS4, 7.9 percent of the teen girls were already pregnant when they were conducting the survey. Most of them were aged between 15 to 19 years of age. This age group is most likely to hit puberty at that time and get pregnant easily. 9.2 percent of teen girls in Rural India were found pregnant or have been pregnant before which is much higher than that of urban areas which is just 5 percent. Top three Indian states to have the most cases of teenage pregnancies are Tripura, Assam and west Bengal. Tripura tops the list with 18.8 percent followed by West Bengal at 18 percent and Assam at 14 percent. According to the NFHS survey, the rates increased in Tripura from 18.8 percent to 21.9 percent and Assam , West Bengal saw a reduction by just 2 percent. Teenage pregnancy and childbirth complications are the most important reasons for the death of teen moms.
 
 
 
Problems faced by pregnant teenage girls -
 
●     Social Issues - Teenage pregnancy is a medical problem that affects every teen mom. A kid having a child as a teen is bound to confront basic social issues like financial weakness, helpless training, dangerous practices that lead to chronic weakness issues, and welfare of the child. The monetary expense of teenagers having children is monetarily very expensive.
●     Friends , family and close ones - teen moms are likely to get judged by friends , family , relatives and other close ones because of their condition. She did not choose to be pregnant but still they have to tolerate ignorance and hatred from others instead of getting support from them. They face a lot of loneliness because most people see them as an inappropriate company and choose not to talk to them.
●     Partner - they had am intercourse because they were in love at that time but where does the guy go after getting her pregnant. They can only have fun because they do not have to carry the child. The guy also faces societal pressure and ignorance but less than the girl because she carries the child and her mistake is irrelevant and can be seen through human eyes. Betrayal from partners, right after the pregnancy news is a very common thing teen mothers face. A relationship where they imagine having kids together but when they actually have it, they don't have the guts to come and confess. Being a girl, she does not have an option because her pregnant stomach screams out the truth and the guy does not have anything to prove nor has any signs of mistake on his body.
●     Father and mother of the teen mom - parents also do not value their kid if they get to know that their daughter is pregnant with an unplanned pregnancy that too in her teenage. They do not support her. As it is the word SEX is still a taboo in India and is just meant to happen within closed doors that too after marriage. This is the definition of intercourse in India. Parents do not give proper sex education to their children even in 2021. They do not teach their boys to control their lust and not make use of their girlfriend to fulfill it even if they hesitate.  Girls are not taught what happens after an intercourse. How to know which of her days are her most fertile days and when to avoid such activities. They take help from internet because all they get to know from parents is having sex before time is not allowed, but nobody answers , why? In a situation the teen girl is depressed. She knows it was her mistake but she didn't have proper information as a budding teen with hitting puberty.
●     Medical problems - teens can obviously conceive but the right age to get pregnant is somewhere around late twenties. So if the teen decides to keep the child or does not have any other option other than keeping the child, which can be due to delay in confessing the truth to parents out of fear and by the time the baby bump shows up it is late. There can be various medical problems related to teenage pregnancy. A teen mom has higher chances of having anemia, preterm labour, if she has problems in childbirth, she might either lose the baby or herself or both. She can also have urinary tract infections, preeclampsia, preterm birth, higher rates of caesarean section birth. The born kid is most likely to be underweight and if the kid has some complication, he or she is kept in an incubator before he or she is allowed to go home.
 
 
 
Therefore, if you see a teen girl who's pregnant, do not blame her , hate her or ignore her. if you cannot support her then do not do the above mentioned things. She is already going through a lot. So before giving that judgemental look in a doctors office, make sure to give your future kids or present kids proper sex education and the need to control lust when there is a hesitation from any of the partner and not force them into something, such that your kids do not end up ruining someone else life. Teen moms are likely to be depressed due to various reasons during pregnancy, try to cheer them up and say that it is okay and you will get through this.
 
Sending  My love , support and good vibes to every teen mom or pregnant teen reading this! You got this girl!
 
 
https://feminisminindia.com/2021/01/19/what-contributes-to-teenage-pregnancies-in-india/
https://www.intechopen.com/books/an-analysis-of-contemporary-social-welfare-issues/teenage-pregnancies-a-worldwide-social-and-medical-problem