How To Prevent Teen Pregnancy

How Parents Can Help Prevent Teen Pregnanc

The shock, experienced by parents when they learn about a pregnancy of their teenage daughter, is not stronger than the shock suffered by the girl herself. Teenage pregnancy in the vast majority of cases is not planned at this age. All teenagers know that unprotected sex leads to pregnancy, but the majority of them believe it will not concern them.

However, parents are able to prevent the effects of careless attitude toward sex.

1. The main condition for the well-being of a child is warm friendship with his parents. One of the reasons why some teenagers deliberately expose themselves to the risk of pregnancy is loneliness, emotional stinginess of their relatives, as well as the lack of interest in the child’s life. Girls tend to think that after having a baby, they will finally find a truly close and loving person.

2. Parents who avoid conversations about sex and human physiology are committing a huge mistake. Talk with your child about the relationship between a man and a woman, as well as about how to prevent sexually transmitted diseases. Instead of lecturing your child, try to discuss this issue in a form of a friendly conversation with the exchange of views.

No need to dive into intimate details, instead you should explain the difference between women’s and men’s attitudes towards sexual intimacy. There are many ways to prove one’s love except sex. Tell us that sexual blackmail (“If you do not want me, then you don’t love me” — a favorite lever of pressure of early ripening youngsters) indicates a consumer attitude and a lack of true feelings.

3. Be sure to teach a girl to say “no”, think of phrases that she can use to avoid ambiguous situations and harassment by a young man.

4. Encourage your teenage child to have various hobbies, because they often have sex out of boredom, looking for thrills. For example, make-up classes can be not only interesting but also useful — in the future your daughter will be able to get a part-time job and even to pay for her new hobby.

5. Open the eyes of the girl on her life prospects. Explain her that a good education gives many chances in life. Tell her how fun and exciting is to be a student.

6. Look after your teenage child. Of course, your child may not like it, but you are responsible for his or her safety and well-being. Due to her young age and lack of inexperience, a girl doesn’t always know what is wright, your role is to guide and to advise.

Teenage pregnancy under the age of 18, when the body still continues to grow, could have a negative impact not only on the health of the mother, but also on the unborn child. If parents do not give adequate support, chances that a girl will not get adequate prenatal care are high. Teens typically do not perform medical prescriptions, many do not quit bad habits and do not change their usual way of life.

Teenagers, meanwhile, are more prone to the risk of high blood pressure during pregnancy than older women. Other complications include: miscarriage, premature birth, low weight of newborn preeclampsia and post-natal depression. Children born as a result of a teenage pregnancy, in most cases (but not always) do not receive a full care, because their mothers are still babies themselves, and may easily be bored taking care of their children. Such children may lag behind in development and show low results in intelligence tests.

Therefore, it is important to notice a teenage pregnancy as soon as possible, in order to help a girl to make the right choices and give her all the necessary help and support. The girl has three options: to have an abortion, to send a child to a children’s home or to give birth to and raise him or her. The role of parents in this period is to support the girl, instead of putting a pressure on her and forcing her to take any decision. You must honestly tell her about the effects of abortion, its adverse impact on the reproductive function in the future, the moral aspect, and notify her than abortion affects women’s health worse than a natural childbirth.