Thirteen Things You Didn’t Know About Being a Young Mother by Elianny Rodriguez

Reported by Elianny Rodríguez

April 2, 2014

1- A woman is consider young mother while being pregnant and having a baby between the ages of 13 and 19, with an early introduction to the adulthood life. “Kids Having Kids” chapter one book inform, how youths between those ages become mothers based on the poverty, low parental education, or growing up with a single parent. Every year in the U.S the percentage of single youths parents increase and decrease, but it still consider a high percent of babies having babies.

2- Based on chapter one of Rebecca A. Maynard’s book, Kids Having Kids, about 1 million of teenegers in the U.S, close to 10 percent of the youths population, become pregnant at a very young ages, such as the age of 15 and 19 which is a rate two times higher as any other advanced country.

3-According to American Academy of Experts in Traumatic Stress, in the website “Stresses Due to Pregnancy in Adolescent and the Cycle of Depression and stress in Young Family,”  young mothers tend to have postpartum depression and to abuse their newborn child. This problem develop with a negative impact on children’s emotions and behavior. Investigators have reported that the interaction between those factors such as mother’s stress, depression and child abuse is what brings insensitivity, depression, and insecurity to a child’s adolescence. Children being affected for their young mothers depression or stress when they became teenegers because of the demands of  love and affection in their young life. While a mother have postpartum depression they tend to reject  and neglect their child which is a lead to a cycle if they became inexpert young parents.

4-Furthermore, adolescence is the time of transition between childhood and adulthood. While being a young mother most of this time period has to be sacrifice because of the changes entering to a unknowable life. According to the American Academy of Experts in Traumatic Stress adolescent pregnancy is considered as complex problem that affect most of the teen population, and their family system.

5- Based on the  website article written by American Academy of Experts in Traumatic Stress  during adolescence, individuals are developing their abstract  thinking skills that provided them the capability to manage differents complex situation, one of them is the sensitivity to their infants.Parenthood is the main source of stress while being a young mother because of  the inexperienced and responsibilities  young mothers has to take. Also having to consider in changing the inexpert immature life to a new adult experience.

6- American Academy of Experts in Traumatic Stress indicates the importance of parent response to their infants. The style of babies attachments to their caretakers determine if the child will be comfortable seeking comfort, secure to explore and communicate with others. If the child do not develop any attachment to the caretaker it means the child will develop social communications problems, detached with their environment and neglections to their own mothers.

7- When Children Having Children website article by the American Academy of Child and Adolescents Psychiatric had explain that babies born from young mothers are risk to develop long term problems. They probably would develop them different major of their life such as, school failure, poverty and physical or mental illness.

 8- Additionally, American Academy of Child and Adolescent Psychiatric express their concerns of the lowest percentage of support teen mother receive, however they encourage parents to prevent teen pregnancy through open communications with their adolescents child, providing guidance about sexuality, contraception, sexual relationship, and responsibilities due to pregnancy.

9- American Academy of Child and Adolescent Psychiatric had report, Babies born from young mothers tend to be abused and neglect from their own children because of the inexperienced they have while taking care of the youngest one. Teenage also tend to demonstrated their frustration through their childrens while being playing a role in a young adulthood life, and the constant child  attention. Adolescent should be required to special programs and better understanding of what being a young mother will require, also offer medical assistance, better education, understanding of substances abused, child behavior training. .

10-  According to American Academy of Child and Adolescent Psychiatric, if pregnancy occurs, families and teenegers deserve honest and sensitive counseling about options available for them, such as abortion and adoption. Teen mothers should have special support system including consultation  with child and adolescent psychiatric when is need. It is necessary to have support through pregnancy to consider decisions and options during this type of situations.

11-  Dropping off school is one of the main problems while being a teen mothers because they drop up school to have their babies and never return back. In this way, pregnant and young mothers lose opportunities to learn skills necessary for employment and self-survival as adult, The American Academy of Child and Adolescent Psychiatric has researches.
 

12- According to the website written by Arne Duncan, U. S. Secretary of Education in 2011 had inform that in 2002 only 10% of teen mothers graduated high school on time, but in differences that 67% of them never graduated. However those young mothers students who received support from school based services tend to remain in school more than those who received no support.

13- At last, a rechear  done by Arne Duncan, U.S. Secretary of Education in 2011, a supportive environment serve as inducements to teenage mom. In others studies done by researchers in the 1980s and 1990s identifies the importance of school programs focused on helping with the carrin of a child; these programs often means to drop out or continuing school.
Citation Page

“Stresses Due to Pregnancy in Adolescent and the Cycle of Depression and Stress in the Young Family.” Stresses Due to Pregnancy in Adolescent and the Cycle of Depression and Stress in the Young Family. Web. 18 Mar. 2014. <http://www.aaets.org/article169.htm>.

“Teenage Parents and Their Educational Attainment.” Teenage Parents and Their Educational Attainment. SEDL, 2011. Web. 18 Mar. 2014. <http://txcc.sedl.org/resources/briefs/number5/>

“When Children Have Children.” When Children Have Children. The American Academy of Child and Adolescent Psychiatry., May 2012. Web. 18 Mar. 2014. <http://www.aacap.org/AACAP/Families_and_Youth/Facts_for_Families/Facts_for_Families_Pages/When_Children_Have_Children_31.aspx>