WRITER: COMFORT GLIKPO

 

Teenage pregnancy is a serious social problem. Research shows that three in 10 teenage girls become pregnant before the age of 20. While many of these pregnancies end in abortion, teen girls who do decide to keep their babies face many problems. Although little is known about teen fathers, research show they are also faced with challenges and dilemmas whether to accept or reject the pregnancy, leaving them in a psychological state of guilt.

Pregnant teens are likely to suffer complications during pregnancy. Their babies are likely to experience premature birth, low birth weight or other serious health problems. These issues put babies at a greater risk of suffering newborn health problems, disability or death

Teen mothers find it difficult caring for their child, whiles going back to school, so most often than not these teen girls drop out of school. Most often, once it is detected that a teen girl is pregnant she is sacked from home and she ends up on the street, sometimes in bad company which is why some teen mothers, I encountered recently are engaged in child prostitution.

As teen mothers drop out of school, it becomes difficult for them to make end meets or find well-paying jobs

It is a fact that pregnancy can really strain the relationships between teen parents and most of these relationship ends down the drain. Those that stay together end up in abusive relationships where they are beaten and maltreated all the time leading to distress and suicide in worse cases.

Teen parenting has a lot of emotional and psychological implications as well as long term implications for marriage

Teen parents are often in a state of guilt and feel anxious about their future and are more likely to subject their children to all forms of abuse and sometimes neglect

To find solutions to these problems you and I must act to invest in the lives of these teenage mothers, since leaving them in their plight contribute to more social problems.

http:goto.gg/32271 is a Dels foundation project dedicated to invest in these teen mothers to alleviate their plight.