Early Pregnancy In Teenagers

Early pregnancy in teenagers

overview
According to the Center for Disease Control and Prevention, the United States has the highest teenage pregnancy rate of all developed countries. About 1 million teenagers become pregnant each year and 95 percent of those pregnancies are unintended. Of those unintended pregnancies, almost one-third end in abortion.

If you are a young woman who findsout that you are pregnant, there are a variety of options for you:

1. Have the baby and take care of it. 

2. Have the baby and place
the baby up for adoption.

3. Have the baby and have
a foster parent care for it
for a short time.

4. Have the baby and live
with her parents.

Deciding to have a baby and take care of it, means a big change in your life. Havinga baby can be wonderful, but it is also hard work and costs a lot of money. The support of the child's father and your parents helps, but you may have to do this alone. Ask if this is something you are prepared to do. You must also get prenatal health care right away.

Adoption means that you and the baby's father have decided that you cannot take care of the baby, and an agency or privateattorney places the baby with another family. This is the adoptive family. It is important to get accurate information about adoption laws in the country and state where you reside. This is what trained option counselors, or professional pregnancy counselors, can help you find out.

Symptoms

You may be pregnant if you have had sexual intercourse and have the following symptoms:
• Missedperiod• Short, scant period• Sore, tender or swollen breasts• Nausea and/or vomiting• Fatigue• Frequent urge to urinate• Mood swings

If you aren't ready for a baby now, but will be in a few months or years, you could find a foster parent to care for the baby for a short time. Foster care means the baby is cared for by another person while you get ready to raise the baby permanently.Foster care can be difficult to arrange and may not be available in some areas.

If you can tell your parents. It is often helpful Many parents will be upset at first, but they may find out eventually anyway. It is better not to try to hide the situation that you are pregnant.

These symptoms most often don't occur until you have missed your period for about two weeks, but this varies fromwoman to woman. Symptoms can occur earlier for some women, sometimes just a week after a missed period.

If you missed your period but have not taken a pregnancy test, don't assume you're pregnant. Continue to use contraception. Remember that the length of your menstrual cycle can vary.

If you have any or all of these symptoms, but don't want to go to a clinic yet, buy a home pregnancy testat any pharmacy. The test reacts to one of the many hormones in a woman's body. The hormone called HCG is in your body only when pregnant. Urine pregnancy tests are therefore designed to react with HCG after it is secreted into a pregnant woman's blood and urine.

Be sure to follow the test's directions when taking a home pregnancy test. You can use home pregnancy tests at any time of theday, but the urine is most concentrated in the morning. Be sure to refrain from aspirin use the day before and the day of the test.


Ways of Preventing Teenage Pregnancy

Abstinence
Abstinence from sex is the only behavior that is 100 percent effective at preventing teenage pregnancy. In fact, the National Campaign stresses that abstinence from sex is the best choice for teens as itavoids early pregnancy, parenthood and sexually transmitted infections. Planned Parenthood reminds teens that remaining abstinent is a behavior choice and it can be difficult for some people.

Contraceptives
Besides abstinence, using contraception during sexual intercourse can also prevent teenage pregnancy. Whether using barrier or hormonal methods, contraception can help to avoid pregnancy....