EARLY PREGNANCY: RISKS, CAUSES AND CONSEQUENCES - ECONOMÍA - 2025

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, it is a very tricky topic to talk about, if not taboo. Many are the individuals who can become scandalized by premature pregnancy, or on the contrary, normalize it. The mentality and character of the people with whom the pregnant woman is related depends on this and, above all, on the socio-economic situation.

Facts about early pregnancy

In this section the data is illuminating. 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 towards 15 years of age, we see how the number shoots up, practically multiplying by four with a total of 4119 teenage pregnancies in the same period of time.

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

If we decide to move a few years ahead and focus on the international level, in 2011 the country with the highest birth rate in young people was Niger, with a total of 206 births per thousand, followed by Nicaragua, which opened the ban on Latin American countries where it has already reduced it to exactly half with 103. 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 for 2008, the Netherlands takes the cake with the birth rate with 7.8 per thousand, and as we have mentioned before, with Spain closely followed in second position with 7.5.

Causes of early pregnancy

From a psychological perspective, young adolescents seek new experiences and sensations at a time when a great deal of change and transformation occurs at breakneck 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:

Having sex without a condom

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

Awareness of the traditional role of women

A profile assigned to women (the vast majority in underdeveloped countries) and settled above all in the more traditional mentalities and which is usually a cause of births.

Forced marriage

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

Social pressure

The close circles of the adolescent age, mainly of friendships that can lead to the practice of sex simply by the fact that it is something "that has to be done if or if".

Lack of fluid communication and relationship with parents

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

Consumption of alcoholic beverages or drugs

The ingestion 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 carry out acts that are beyond our knowledge, and of course their consequences. This is something that is being claimed every time in schools.

Rape

Unfortunately, this cause is one of the most striking and dramatic, and in which special emphasis must be placed 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 unbelievable when you consider a study by the Guttmacher Institute that found that 60% of young women who had sex before reaching 15 years of age were forced.

Problems in an early pregnancy

Different problems can occur when referring to a 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 suggests, 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 the 20th week of pregnancy. One of the most common symptoms is periodic vaginal bleeding that occurs painlessly. We can find three types of placenta previa:

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

Preeclampsia

When we talk about pre-eclampsia, we talk about hypertension of the arteries. Another effect is proteinuria, an appearance of excess protein in the urine. For it to be called preeclampsia as such, both effects have to occur.

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

Premature delivery

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

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

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

How can you see if there are chances of getting a preterm birth? Some symptoms of this will translate into constant strong contractions, vaginal bleeding, or a constant feeling that the child is pushing down as if pushing out.

Severe anemia

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

1. Iron deficiency anemia: This is basically produced by the lack of iron that generally appears due to an inadequate diet of our body.
2. Anemia gravidarum: It is a derivative of the disease that develops in a less serious sense. You do 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 as data that the current levels of hemoglobin in the blood of a pregnant woman oscillate between 12-16g / dL, while the non-pregnant woman shows a change with levels between 11-14g / dL.

Premature water break

This 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 chorioamnioniti. The solution? A voluntary delivery should be provoked if you do not want the mother or the child to suffer some kind of really serious problem.

As a curiosity, sometimes there can be a veiled delivery, where curiously the baby is born with its 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 to normalize and regularize visits for reasons such as embarrassment or directly misinformation.
• There is a greater risk of not attending gynecological visits, or not following the doctor's advice due to the little experience or maturity of the young mother.
• The baby may have a high chance of being born with a weight below normal and with minimal fat deposits, leading to a multitude of diseases.
• High mortality is a problem after pregnancy, especially in developing countries.
• For the newborn, it can also be a problem that causes them to be born with Spina Bifida or Sudden Infant Death Syndrome (it is the sudden death of an apparently healthy child).
• A rejection of the baby can be created due to the lack of responsibility by not wanting 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 the woman (or the couple in general) or at social levels where discrimination or abandonment become quite common problems.

Psychological

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

Social

1. Forced marriage: In the event that you were not married, sometimes you can reach the consummation of a forced marriage due to the news of a premature birth.
2. Abandonment of the father: Sometimes problems related to the couple appear where the other person, knowing that he is going to be a father, resigns himself and decides to abandon the mother when he has not yet given birth to his 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 due to the problem that in many cases the burden of being the mother of a child can pose.
4. Dropout: Fathering and caring for a baby takes a lot of time. This means that those in charge of taking care of it have to renounce a multitude of practices that used to be done before and which should be renounced. Among them we find mainly the dropout rate, 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 hired and that they have enough free time, something that is not possible with a newborn child 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.

References

1. https://sites.google.com/site/teenpregnancyabortion/
2. http://www.mibebeyyo.com/embarazo/psicologia/partos-menores-espana-4657
3. http://www.webconsultas.com/embarazo/
4. http://rousmary-elembarazoprecoz.blogspot.com.es/
5. http://www.webmd.com/baby/guide/
6. http://www.educarchile.cl/ech/pro/app/detalle?ID=209589
7. http://www.smith.edu/ourhealthourfutures/teenpreg5.html
8. http://www.guiainfantil.com/articulos/embarazo/