Teen pregnancy is pregnancy in human females under the age of 20 at the time that the pregnancy ends. A pregnancy can take place in a pubertal female before menarche (the first menstrual period), which signals the possibility of fertility, but usually occurs after menarche. In well-nourished girls, menarche usually takes place around the age of 12 or 13. Teenage pregnancy is also defined as an unintended pregnancy during adolescence.
Teen pregnancy is something that affects over one million young teens in the world including Brunei Darussalam. For some, these pregnancies are planned but 85% of these teens the pregnancy is unplanned. This can cause a lot of endless problems in the life of the teen and the new born child. There are a lot of things that can cause an unplanned teen pregnancy, such as teens experimenting with sexual encounters at a young age. Another major cause is the lack of guidance due to guardians that are blind or do not want to believe in such activities. These causes can have devastating effects on the teen and the new born in the household. Some effects of early pregnancy will include an unexpected rise of responsibility for the teen and can cause many health concerns for both teen and new born child.
2. CAUSES OF TEEN PREGNANCY
Firstly is Lack of Parental Guidance. Most people evade their children from talking about sex. In some cases, they provide false information regarding sex and discourage their children to participate in any informative discussion about sex. In some cases, teenage mothers are not well educated about sex before getting pregnant and thus this leads to lack of communication between the parents and the children.
Secondly is Adolescent Sexual Behavior. Among the adolescents, peer pressure is a major factor that encourages the teenage boys and girls to indulge in sexual activities. Early dating, as early as 12 years of age, is another factor that contributes to teen pregnancy.
Thirdly is Inadequate