Although teen pregnancy rates have declined in the past, it remains a worrying trend. With some having sex at 11-12 years of age, the chances of a teen pregnancy increase. With teen pregnancy comes the need for medical care. Unfortunately, there are many barriers to medical care for a teen pregnancy.
education is essential
One of these barriers to health care for pregnant adolescents is education. Schools don’t educate students about their bodies and the way they work. Parents tend to feel uncomfortable discussing sex education issues with their teens, so any information the teen can get usually comes from her peers. This is usually not an effective means of collecting correct information.
Financial Barriers
Another barrier to medical care for teen pregnancy is income, or lack thereof. Health care is prohibitively expensive for many adults, and even a teen with working parents may not have access to health insurance. When a parent has to decide between rent and food or health insurance, medical needs are often overlooked. With access to pregnancy education and clinics available to uninsured teens, there could be an increase in the number of teens seeking care for themselves and their unborn child.
Along with inadequate health insurance and low-income parents, teens may face a lack of transportation to a health care facility. Many 2-income families own a car and do not have a support system to turn to in times of need. Medical care is often not available within a reasonable distance, or there may be no gas for the second car. Even if transportation is available, a parent may not be able to get time off work to take the pregnant teen to the doctor, as long as the parent knows of the pregnancy in the first place.
shame and fear
This brings us to another barrier to medical care for teen pregnancy. Shame and fear in a teenager can be a powerful motivator for many actions they take. Shame about being pregnant and fear of the consequences they may face from a parent can influence a teen in many ways. One coping skill that arises from these feelings is not admitting the pregnancy, even to themselves. This, of course, can lead to the adolescent not receiving medical attention until she is well along in her pregnancy. This only sets the teen up for possible future complications for her and her baby.
With joint parent-adolescent education, we may be able to overcome these barriers to health care for our pregnant adolescents. Communication for all can be a good first step in providing access to care for both mother and fetus.