Introduction Nearly half of all pregnancies today are unintended.1 When doctors, particularly primary care providers, ask the One Key Question (OKQ): “Would you like to become pregnant in the next year?”, women can discuss their reproductive life plans and be equipped with the knowledge and resources to best achieve their answer. Unintended pregnancies, which are either mistimed or unwanted, are associated with increased health risks for both mom and baby, as a woman may not be in optimal health prior to conception. Minority women are more than twice as likely to experience an unintended pregnancy or unintended birth than their white counterparts.2 The Preconception Peer Education (PPE) program similarly works to promote positive reproductive health decision-making for adolescents. Early and frequent promotion and re-evaluation of one’s reproductive life plan is critical to reducing unintended pregnancies and improving birth outcomes. Additionally, facilitation of discussion by primary care physicians can help to improve preconception behavior. This memo will demonstrate why the OKQ must be implemented as an expansion of the PPE program to reduce the number of unintended pregnancies in Boston and ultimately improve birth outcomes.
Background
Preconception health is one of the most important things to mitigate the risk of adverse health outcomes for women and neonates by improving knowledge and health prior to conception. Preconception care and early development of
Teen pregnancy continues to be a problem in America even though the CDC documents a decrease from 2007-2009 in all racial groups. (Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, n.d.). Reducing the number of pregnancies in teens 15-17 is a core indicator identified by Healthy People 2020 to assess the status of adolescent health. Children born to teens are at risk for health concerns from being of low birth weight and having poor prenatal care such as delayed development. (Magness, 2012). Repeat pregnancy, dependence on welfare, and poverty are some of the results of adolescent pregnancy. Teen mothers tend to have health problems such as hypertension, and anemia and are at high risk for early delivery. Magness looks at the issue from the teen’s viewpoint and discusses the idea that some teens become pregnant to provide stability in an otherwise chaotic life and can gain maturity from the experience. Emphasis on continuing their education after delivery can prevent repeat pregnancies. Lack of productive or positive social activities or guidance can leave room for a teen to indulge in risky behavior to occupy their time. Peer pressure and influence from present day norms can cause teenagers to give in to early onset of sexual activity (Kirven, 2014). Finding after school or extracurricular activities can promote a healthier self
Clemmitt (2010) states that currently the most effective approach to prevent teenage pregnancy is evidence-based sex education programs. The primary debate about the best method of preventing teenage pregnancy is between abstinence-only courses and comprehensive sex education. The author says that after operating comprehensive sex education, the Obama approach, many communities and county areas have drastically reduced the rate of teenage pregnancy. Studies and statistics suggested that abstinence-only courses have not contributed to reduce teenage pregnancy rates. The author points out that the abstinence-only courses also include sexually transmitted diseases classes and discussions of unhealthy relationship and making decisions, and abstinence
More than half of all women of reproductive age in the United States use some form of contraceptive (Daniels, Daugherty, and Jones, 2014). Of those, most are on the oral-contraceptive pill. Even with new regulations in place to supposedly increase access to preventive services, there is still an issue of women who are sexually active, do not wish to become pregnant within the next year, and who are not using a form of contraception. Clinician and facility based barriers are the largest deterrent for these women. By removing the barriers to contraceptive counseling and services, women will have greater access to their health.
V. Marks, personal communication, March 31, 2017). Structural factors, including economic disadvantage, neighborhood characteristics, lack of access to family planning, and mistrust in the medical system underlie these findings (Dehlendorf, C., Harris, L. H., & Weitz, T. A., 2013). While some low income African American adolescent women do have access to insurance companies such as Medicaid to receive contraceptives, other women are still uninsured due to eligibility to receive such benefits. Due to lack of education involving contraceptives, safety concerns for many Black women are shaped by conspiracy beliefs about contraception arising from the history of the use of contraception to control the fertility of vulnerable populations (Dehlendorf, C., Rodriguez, M. I., Levy, K., Borrero, S., & Steinauer, J. , 2010). There are various concerns about contraceptives. The difficulty in using contraception effectively may be partly a result of less knowledge about birth control and reproduction in low income African American adolescent women. In other words, information provided to the patient about contraception also play a role in disparities. Further, the medical model for providing contraceptive information may not be equally acceptable to all populations or presented in a way for patients to understand. Recent studies have found that many minority women trust and rely more often on
The teen birth rate in New Mexico has declined by 35 % over the last decade. However, New Mexico is the second highest teen pregnancy in the nation. Unintended pregnancies within our community of Las Cruces, NM have evolved into a public health issue within the Dona Ana County. The goal for the community of Las Cruces, NM is to build a public health program that will help reducing unintended pregnancies among teenagers. By establishing a prevention program, our purpose is to educate teenagers on the planning their pregnancies. This project will increase the number of desired and healthier babies.
Akers, Borrero, Corbie-Smith, and Schwarz (2010) discussed the results of a study completed on African American family discussions with their adolescent children regarding family planning and contraception. The authors found this study important due to the extremely high rates of pregnancy in black adolescents, and suggests one of the solutions to this issue would be the communication between the parents are the children (Akers, Borrero, Corbie-Smith, & Schwarz, 2010).
Society in general is currently addressing the social problem of teen pregnancy in several ways. One of the most important is an increase in parent’s willingness to not only bring the issue up and discuss it with their children, but also allowing educators to address the issue in schools.
Teenage pregnancy has been viewed as an issue for many years, not only for teenage mothers but for babies as well. Much importance has been placed on this subject for the reason that although these rates are declining, they remain elevated. The United States represents over 600,000 American teen pregnancies every year, making this the highest rate in the industrialized world (Steinberg, 2017). Unfortunately, ethnic minorities in the United States have a predisposition to the many social, educational and economic disadvantages that in fact shape adolescent sexual behavior and lead to the decision of adolescent motherhood. This paper will illustrate teenage pregnancy rates over the last few years, the factors that impact teen pregnancy, contraception and the likelihood of teen pregnancies across different ethnic groups.
The teenage birth rate has always been at an all-time high in the United States. In 2009, alone statics from the Disease control prevention estimated “13.5 births for every 1,000 teens” (Blue). Bringing a child into this world is a blessing, unfortunately, sometimes the timing can be off. A child is a huge responsibility sad to say not every person can handle the full-time duty of being a parent. It can get complicated when you are a mother at such a young age. For this reason, teenage girls should acquire birth control methods to prevent getting pregnant, abstinence can help teenagers from catching an std, and allow them to stay focus stopping the drop out rate of teens moms in high schools.
"Teen pregnancy in the United States: In 2015, a total of 229,715 babies were born to women aged 15-19 years old, for a birth rate of 22.3 per 1,000 women in this age group. This is another record for U.S. teens and a drop of 8% from 2014. Although reasons for the declines are not totally clear, evidence suggests these declines are due to more teens abstaining from sexual activity, and more teens who are sexually active using birth control than in previous years. Still, the U.S. teen pregnancy rate is substantially higher than in other western industrialized nations, and racial/ethnic and geographic disparities in teen birth rates persist (cdc.gov)." As teenagers (in the United States), we are peer pressured or tempted to try new things. Some teens tend to try out drugs, and alcohol. However, some are having unprotected sex in which, is leads to having babies. This is called, teenage pregnancy. This has caused the United States to create records based off of the statistics and facts given from, researchers across the United States. In order to help prevent teenage pregnancy in the United States, teenagers must understand why, having a baby now isn’t such a smart move on their part.
I have been thinking a lot lately about the critical role that peers and community play in supporting, educating, and empowering individuals to make healthy decisions. This has stemmed from our discussions on centering pregnancy and my own experiences observing breastfeeding support groups. Overall, it is clear how important peers are in discussing and supporting others’ positive health choices. Peer education and support for positive health behavior can provide a sense of community, and individuals know they are not alone when there are others experiencing the same thing and providing support. I think this is most evident when thinking about the Preconception Peer Educator (PPE) program and the positive implications that can arise from educating other adolescents about the importance of preconception health and contraception use to improve their own health
I am interested in discussing teen pregnancy and the options that are out there for the teens who find themselves in this situation. I don’t think enough is being done to educate or prepare these teens about how their lives will change in the event of pregnancy.
Prenatal care is widely accepted as an important element in improving pregnancy outcome. (Gorrie, McKinney, Murray, 1998). Prenatal care is defined as care of a pregnant woman during the time in the maternity cycle that begins with conception and ends with the onset of labor. A medical, surgical, gynecologic, obstretic, social and family history is taken (Mosby's Medical, Nursing, and Allied Health Dictionary, 1998). It is important for a pregnant woman as well as our society to know that everything that you do has an effect on your baby. Because so many women opt not to receive the benefits of prenatal care, our society sees the ramification, which include a variety of complications primarily
How many pregnant teens have there been? Over the years more girls are becoming teen moms. In Oklahoma teen pregnancy has become a problem. Recently Oklahoma has had a pregnancy rate of 47.5% (Tulsa World). Not only is it an issue in Oklahoma but an issue in the United States as a whole. The lack of awareness and how to prevent pregnancy is a reason to blame for the increasing numbers. The more we don’t make people aware of the increasing teen pregnancy rate and how to prevent then the numbers will continue to rise into an astonishing amount. Helping teens know of the different ways to prevent pregnancy can make an enormous difference in teen pregnancy. The issues that have an effect on teen pregnancy rates have been to the use of
In light of the role of health professionals in distributing information related to preconception health and risk assessment, respondents were asked about with whom they had talked about preconception health-related risk factors. The data showed that less than 20% of participants had such conversations with professional health care providers (n = 15); 15.8% of respondents talked with friends (n = 12); 14.5% talked with spouses (n = 11); and 38.2% of them had never talked about it (n = 29).