There are serious immediate and long term health and socioeconomic consequences on the baby, teen mother, family, community and the nation due to Adolescents/teenage pregnancy and motherhood.
Some of these consequences are; unsafe abortion and its complications, still births, neonatal deaths, maternal mortality and morbidity, sexually transmitted infections including HIV/AIDS, depression, school dropout, lost employment opportunities, perpetuation of poverty cycles, delay in women’s education, rejection by family, embarrassment, prostitution, developmental problems of children, social misfits of children, children sometimes also become teen mothers or are incarcerated in their teens due to poor parenting by their teens mothers. In some jurisdictions by the time a girl turns 25 years she’s already a grandmother.
In view of this, it’s important for decision makers to formulate policies with interventions which equip and empower our young ones to be resilient to navigate successfully through the delicate adolescence period into a healthy and responsible adulthood for national development.
