Last Updated on April 13, 2023 by Mike Robinson

The early pregnancy , early or juvenile is placed in a range between 11 and 19 years of age, although this usually comes to vary by institution.

Without a doubt, this is a very tricky topic when it comes to speaking it, not to say taboo. Many are the individuals who may become scandalized by premature pregnancy, or on the contrary, normalize it. The mentality and character of the people with whom the pregnant woman relates and, above all, of the socio – economic situation depend on it.

Data on early pregnancy

In this section the data is enlightening. Only in our country, and according to the National Institute of Statistics, between 2000 and 2008, there were a total of 1209 pregnancies in girls with ages below 14.

If we move to the age of 15, we see how the number skyrockets, becoming multiplied by almost four with a total of 4,119 teenage pregnancies in the same period of time.

With respect to the last year in which this data is recorded, there were 177 births in girls aged 14 or under, and 537 in those who were already 15 years old.

If we decided to move a few years later and focus on the international level, in 2011 the country that had a higher birth rate in young people was Niger, with a total of 206 births per thousand, followed by Nicaragua, which opened the ban on the Latin American countries where it already reduces it exactly to half with 103. The third place on the podium corresponds to the Dominican Republic with only two less than its predecessor.

In the old continent taking into account the data of the year 2008, Holland takes the palm with the birth rate with 7.8 per thousand, and as we mentioned before, with Spain followed very closely in second place with 7.5 .

Causes of early pregnancy

From a psychological perspective, young adolescents look for new experiences and sensations in a stage in which a great amount of changes and transformations take place at dizzying speeds, making a great effort to try to be independent.

We are going to point out and specify what could be the causes of teenage pregnancy:

Practice sex without a condom

There is no room for doubt when we talk about what is one of the main and biggest problems. The practice of sex without any precaution can lead to pregnant women, whether desired or unwanted, where 18% of adolescents between 15 and 19 years old do not use any method of contraception and allowing themselves to be aligned with another data that tells us that 80 % of pregnancies at that age are not desired.

Awareness of the traditional role of women

A profile assigned to women (mostly in underdeveloped countries) and based mainly on the more traditional mentalities and which is usually a cause of births.

Forced marriage

Traditional places where it is still traditional practice to marry a girl with another person (whether elderly or not) in a forced and forced mainly by families.

Social pressure

The close circles of the adolescent age, mainly of the friendships that can get to induce to the practice of sex simply by the fact that it is something that must be done if or if ??.

Lack of communication and fluid relationship with parents

A bad relationship with parents translates into insecurities, ignorance and problems of self-esteem.

Consumption of alcoholic beverages or drugs

The intake of this type of consumption translates into a lack of control of our body and the creation of involuntary acts.

Lack of information, guidance and training

Due to a lack of information either in our home or, directly, in our education center, especially in schools, we can get to perform acts that are beyond our knowledge, and of course their consequences. This is something that is being claimed every time in schools.

Violation

Unfortunately, this cause is one of the most striking and most dramatic, and in which we must make special emphasis to try to raise awareness among the population where between 11 and 20% of pregnancies during adolescence are the result of sexual abuse .

This seems incredible if we take into account a study carried out by the Guttmacher Institute that concluded that 60% of the girls who had sex before reaching 15 years of age were forced.

Problems in an early pregnancy

Different problems can occur when referring to pregnancy produced at an early age. Even more so if you finally decide to go ahead and give birth.

Problems during pregnancy

Placenta previ

It is a complication that, as its name indicates, is located in the placenta, causing it to travel until it reaches the cervix. This type of problem shows a probability of 1 in 200 and usually appears in week 20 of pregnancy. One of the most common symptoms is periodic v@ginal bleeding that occurs painlessly. We can find three types of placenta previa:

1. Placenta previa or total: It occurs when the placenta covers the entire cervix or cervix.
2. Partial previous placenta: When the placenta partially covers the cervix.
3. Marginal placenta previa: When the placenta only partially covers the cervix. It is the least invasive way.

Preeclampsia

When we talk about preeclampsia, we talk about hypertension of the arteries. Another effect is proteinuria, an appearance of excess protein in the urine. To be called preeclampsia as such, both effects must be produced.

The consequences can lead to serious damage to the kidneys, and if this gets worse, other vital organs such as the liver, the brain or even the blood itself can be damaged. Finally, if it is not controlled, it could endanger the life of the future baby or even the woman.

Premature delivery

Officially, it is known as premature birth, the one produced between weeks 28 and 37 of pregnancy. Between week 20 and 28 would be known as immature delivery and if this occurred before week number 20 would be considered an abortion.

It is an obstetric and neonatal problem that has fatal consequences for women, among which we find infections in the urinary tract, diabetes or severe anemia among many others.

It can also lead to abortion or even uterine anomalies such as cervical incompetence, while malformation of the fetus will always be a risk to run that will be present at all times. This can lead us back to the first complication that is about placenta previa.

How can you observe if there are possibilities of contracting a premature birth? Some symptoms of this will result in strong constant contractions, v@ginal bleeding or a constant feeling that the child pushes down as if he were forced to leave.

Severe anemia

We know anemia as a type of infection created in the blood. In adolescent pregnancy is produced due to low levels of possession of hemoglobin and therefore iron, as they are carriers of this mineral so that we find two types of anemia:

1. Iron-deficiency anemia: This is produced basically by the lack of iron that usually appears due to an inadequate diet of our organism.
2. Gravidic anemia: It is a derivative of the disease that develops in a less serious sense. It does not need medical treatment. This is produced when the blood volume in our body increases while the concentration of hemoglobin decreases.

It should be noted that current levels of hemoglobin in the blood of a pregnant woman range between 12-16g / dL, while the non-pregnant shows a change with levels between 11-14g / dL.

Premature water rupture

It is something that affects a third of pregnant teenagers. One of the problems that can occur is the entry of bacteria into the bag, since it is open. This is called amnionitis or chorioamnionitis. The solution? A voluntary delivery must be provoked if the mother or the child does not want to suffer some kind of really serious problem.

As a curiosity, sometimes a veiled birth can occur, where curiously the baby is born with his amniotic bag in perfect condition. It should be noted that this type of delivery does not lead to any type of health problem for either the mother or the newborn.

Problems after pregnancy

• It can lead to a lack of medical attention from a gynecologist who helps normalize and regularize visits for reasons such as shame or directly disinformation.
• There is a greater risk of not going to the gynecological visits, or not following the doctor’s advice due to the little experience or maturity of the young mother.
• The baby can have high chances of being born with a weight below normal and with low fat deposits, causing a multitude of diseases.
• High mortality is a problem after pregnancy, especially in developing countries.
• For the newborn, it can also pose a problem that causes them to be born with Spina Bifida or the Sudden Infant Death Syndrome (this is the sudden death of a child who apparently was healthy).
• It can be created to reject the baby due to lack of responsibility to not want to assume the new role of being a mother.

Consequences of early pregnancy

The consequences can occur mainly at psychological levels that affect the morality of women (or the couple in general) or social levels where discrimination or abandonment become quite common problems.

Also Read: Childhood Schizophrenia: Symptoms, Causes, Treatments

Psychological

1. Depression: It is a disease that can develop in case of anguish and overwhelm when we face new responsibilities and have been aware of what has been lost previously.
2. Sensation of frustration: The lack of means is the main cause of a sense of frustration with a view to the future.
3. Obsessive concerns for the well-being of the fetus or the newborn baby: Lack of knowledge and facing something new can cause obsessive points for the well-being of the baby or the fetus. Likewise, this consequence may also occur in non-adolescent pregnancies.
4. Sensation of guilt: This can happen when you have been born against the will and we feel that we have failed ourselves, or directly to our closest relatives.

Social

1. Obligatory marriage: In the event that you are not married, sometimes you can reach the consummation of a marriage forced due to the news of a premature birth.
2. Abandonment of the father: Sometimes there are problems related to the couple where the other person, knowing that he is going to be a father, resigns himself and decides to abandon the mother when she has not yet given birth to her fate.
3. Rejection by relatives or close people: There are other types of social problems that make the family or friends discriminate against the girl because of the problem that in many cases can be the burden of being the mother of a baby.
4. Abandonment of studies: Generating and caring for a baby requires a lot of time. This means that those in charge of caring for it have to renounce a multitude of practices that used to be done before and to which they must renounce. Among them we find mainly the abandonment of studies, something very common especially in the period pertaining to Compulsory Secondary Education, where the dropout rate in our country is one of the highest in Europe.
5. Lower probability of finding a job: Currently, the employment situation means that stable profiles are contracted and that they have enough free time, something that is not possible when a newborn child is in charge. If we add the lack of academic training due to school dropout, it should be noted that it is a difficult job to find job stability.