Statement on teenage pregnancy

Teenage pregnancy is a contemporary societal issue requiring open discussion, health care personnel training, health education, and research. Sexual intercourse among single teenage girls has become more prevalent since the early 1900's; teenagers in all segments of society are becoming more sexually active at an earlier age. Contraceptive measures among adolescents are sporadic at best; out-of-wedlock births increased among teenagers from 1960-1974 while declining among other age groups. Two major complications of teenage pregnancy related to age are preeclampsia and a high number of low-birth-weight infants. The younger the mother, the greater the risk of health associated consequences of pregnancy, low-birth-weight infants, and subsequent abnormal child development. Emotional and psychosocial problems are often encountered by the pregnant adolescent.