Hey Baby, is that your baby!?
By Shari Levine
Thinking about having sex? Wait! Check this out first! Jillina is 16 years old. She lives in the United States.Here's a peek at her life...
Ouch!. It's 2 am and I stubbed my toe again while I was running to the baby's room. I am so tired that I could fall asleep in the middle of a Justin Bieber concert (not that I will ever get to see a concert again.) Feeding Aimee every few hours is getting old fast, but she won't drink from a bottle. Everyone says that it will get better when she is 6 months old, but that is three long months from now.
I haven't had a minute to be alone since she was born, and most days I have to take her in the bathroom with me if I want to take a shower.
Mom has been great - she has helped me a lot with taking care of Aimee, but I am still the one who is responsible for this helpless person. She is so beautiful, soft, and delicate, and I love her so much. But I'm so tired, cranky, and irritated all the time, and I get mad at her for keeping me up all night. Since I'm breastfeeding, I have to eat and drink constantly even if I don't feel like it.
I can't believe that next week I have to go back toschool and Aimee will be in day care. After school I have to take the bus to my job at the grocery store until 6 PM and then go back to pick up Aimee at day care. I don't know how I am going to do all this and feed the baby every few hours throughout the night.
I baby-sat a lot before I got pregnant, so I though that I knew what it was going to be like to have a baby. Boy, was I surprised when we got home from the hospital after Aimee was delivered! She's a great baby and I love her, but taking care of her is very hard work and it's expensive. Diapers, toys, clothes baby food, and day care cost a lot of money, and Aimee's father (my ex-boyfriend) isn't helping me at all because he didn't want me to keep the baby.
I know that we're going to make it, but now I realize that it's going to be really hard to do it alone.
In the olden days, most girls were married by the time they were 13 or 14 years old. So, teen pregnancy was normal, even expected. It was NOT unusual for girls to have several children by the time they were 20 years old.
Unlike back then, a teenager now who has an unplanned pregnancy outside of marriage is faced with many difficult decisions...
First, a girl must consider all of her options including keeping the baby, putting him or her up for adoption, or getting an abortion. All of these options are complicated, and a lot of times important people like the baby's father or your parents want something different than you do.
While teen pregnancy has been declining, in 2008, there were nearly 750,000 pregnancies to women younger than age 20 and the rate of pregnancy was 67.8 per 1,000 women age 15-19.
The risks to the baby and the teenager are higher than if she had a baby when she was more than 20 years old. Pregnant teens are at higher risk than older women for having a low-birth weight baby because they are less likely to get good prenatal care.
Prenatal care
This is when a doctor (an obstetrician or family practitioner) monitors the mother's health and the baby's growth all the way through the pregnancy, and educates the mother about a healthy lifestyle and nutrition. The pregnant woman goes to the doctor once a month for the first eight months to get weighed, have her blood pressure taken, and hear the baby's heartbeat. This is to make sure that the baby is growing and that everything is going well. During the last month of her pregnancy, a woman goes to see the doctor once a week to make sure that she and the baby are healthy.
In addition, 1 in 4 (about 3 million) teens are infected with sexually transmitted diseases (STDs) each year. Having an STD while you are pregnant increases your chances of harming or infecting the baby.
You probably already know how difficult life can be for a teenage mother. They are more likely to drop out of high school than girls who do not become pregnant. Without a high school diploma, it is hard to find a job that pays well enough to support yourself and a baby.
Here's something you may not know...
About 50% of teen mothers become pregnant again within two years of the baby's birth. AND 25% actually have a second baby within two years of the first.
Knowing how hard it can be to have a baby does not stop half a million teen girls each year from becoming mothers. Why do they do it?
Some say, "Having a baby gives me someone who will love me." Others say, that their boyfriends wanted a baby, that he would not use birth control, or that the birth control failed and they did not want to have an abortion.
It's a lot harder to make decisions after you become pregnant, so think ahead, girl!
Your first decision is whether or not you want to be sexually active. If you decide that you are not ready, well, you're naturally protected from both pregnancy and most STDs.
If you decide to become sexually active, protect yourself by using birth control (contraception) each and every time you have intercourse. If you don't, there's a 90% chance that you will get pregnant within one year!
Birth control is used to prevent pregnancy. Some methods offer the added advantage of preventing STDs as well. There are many different methods of birth control available, some of which include: Barrier Methods (prevent sperm and egg from making contact) Condoms catch the sperm and prevent it from entering the vagina. You can buy latex condoms at the pharmacy or grocery store. They are inexpensive (about $2.00 for a package of 3) and very effective (97% effective) in preventing pregnancy and sexually transmitted diseases.
Spermicide in the form of jelly or foam is inserted into the vagina and kills sperm before it makes contact with an egg. When used alone, spermicides are about 94% effective. When spermicide is used with a condom it the most effective protection you can get. A tube of spermicide costs about $11 to 13, and you can buy it in the pharmacy or grocery store.
The diaphragm and cervical cap are used with spermicide and are inserted into the vagina and block the sperm from making contact with an egg. You need a doctor's prescription to get a diaphragm, and they cost about $25.
Hormonal Methods:
The Birth Control Pill is a synthetic hormone that prevents ovulation (the release of an egg from the ovaries). The pill is about 98% effective in preventing pregnancy when used correctly, but it provides no protection against STDs. It costs about $14 a month, and you need to get a prescription from your doctor.
Depo-Provera is a hormone shot that you get every 3 months at the doctor's office. Like the pill, Depo prevents the egg from being released from the ovaries each month. It is 99.6% effective in preventing pregnancy, but does not protect you against STDs. It costs about $30 to $40 per injection.
Just plain dumb methods:
Withdrawal is when the male pulls out before he ejaculates into the female. This method is NOT effective because some sperm can escape during intercourse even before ejaculation.
The rhythm method is when you only have intercourse on days when you think that you are not ovulating (an egg is released from the ovary). This method does NOT work because you can never be sure when you are ovulating, and there are no safe days.
Don't take that chance with your future.
