Who is a Teenager?
A teenager, or a teen, is a person who falls within the ages of 13 to 19 years old. The word “teenager” is often associated with adolescence.

Definition of teenage pregnancy.
Pregnancy by a female, age 13 to 19, which is understood to occur in a girl who hasn’t completed her core education — secondary school — has few or no marketable skills, is financially dependent upon her parents and/or continues to live at home and is mentally immature (Segen’s Medical).

Introduction
Teenage pregnancy, also called unwanted pregnancy has become a bane in the society. Underage girls are caught in the mess of being put into the family way. This has become rampant in the society and has led many young ladies to early graves as a result of unsuccessful abortions.

Research findings also showed that the prevalence rate of adolescent pregnancy is highest in the North-West region accounting for 36 percent and the lowest in the South-east and South-west. It is also a leading cause of maternal mortality in Nigeria.

Causes of Rise in Teenage Pregnancy
Several factors have been attributed to the incessant increase of adolescent pregnancy in Nigeria. The factors include;

• Absence of good parental upbringing
• Influence of peer groups
• Lack of sexual education
• Financial constraint or poverty
• Sexual Violence – rape, exploitation by older men
• Media influence
• Hawking
• Rebellion- want to get back at parents
• Stability of family / lack of parental guidance/ single parenthood.
• Alcohol and Drug Abuse
• Religion and cultural beliefs such as early marriage and traditional gender roles.

Presently, COVID-19 lockdown, there is evidence that lockdown resulted the increased sexual violence and of course more teenage pregnancies and other factors.

 Implications of Teenage Pregnancy

On Teenagers:

• Drop out of school leading to low educational attainment.
• Unwanted pregnancies
• Greater marital instability
• Low income later in life
• Children of teen mothers likely to be low of intellectual ability.
• Social problems, substance abuse and sexually transmitted diseases.

On Health:

• Health Implications during pregnancy and childbirth are the leading cause of death of teen mothers.
• Low birth weight/premature birth
• Anemia (low iron levels)
• High blood pressure/pregnancy-induced hypertension, PIH (can lead to preeclampsia)
• Higher rate of infant mortality (death)
• Possible greater risk of cephalopelvic disproportion (the baby’s head is wider than the pelvic opening)
• Unsafe abortions, contribute to maternal mortality, morbidity
• Lasting health problems such as vesicovaginal fistula (VVF).

In Society:

• Social exclusion, stigma
• Rejection
• Unemployment, poverty
• Toddlers prone to childhood accidents
• High mortality rate
• Unsafe abortion
• Early child marriage

Since the problems of adolescents’ pregnancy are multi-dimensional in nature, there is therefore urgent need for holistic approach in addressing this menace and supporting adolescent girls to realize their potential.

Most successful programs and prevention approaches to address the problem of adolescent pregnancy include;

• Appropriate counseling
• Affordable and adequate healthcare services
• Abstinence promotion and contraception information
• Contraceptive availability
• Sex education
• School-completion strategies
• Job training.

Health systems need to be able to respond to the special sexual and reproductive health needs of adolescent girls.

Facilitated by Mrs. Uche Daodu, the CEO of Global Help Trust Foundation.