Blisstree » teen pregnancies

Preventing Teen Pregnancy: Start Early

Marijke Durning, RN — Tue, 24 Jun 2008 14:18:23 +0000

I’m not picking on teens – honest! Many teens who have babies end up doing fabulously well in the long run – but it’s an incredibly difficult task at best. And, if you speak to them and ask them about their experiences, often they’ll say that although they adore their children, they do not think that teen pregnancies are a good idea.

So, how do we prevent them? Many people blame the media, the so-called teen celebrities like Jamie Lynn Spears and movies – but teens have been getting pregnant for generations, so is this a fair assessment? Is it fair to blame actress Ellen Page’s character, Juno (from the teen pregnancy movie, Juno), for this? I wonder how Ellen feels about having this trotted out constantly now?

I do think that – in most cases – teens who get pregnant don’t realize the long-term ramifications of their actions. How are they going to support the child? How are they going to take care of their health while pregnant? How are they going to care for their child’s health?

This article on CBC.com makes it seem easy: Preventing Teen Pregnancy: Start Early – but is it really that easy?

Image: Newscom

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Post from: Blisstree

Preventing Teen Pregnancy: Start Early

Pregnancy pact making news all over the world

Marijke Durning, RN — Sun, 22 Jun 2008 17:32:10 +0000

It’s all over the news, being reported, literally, all over the world:

CNN: Teen girls reportedly make pregnancy pact
Canada: Pregnancy pact alarms officials at US high school: reports
Australia: US town alarmed by pregnancy pact news
England: Teen ‘pregnancy pact’ has US town reeling in shame
Scotland: US schoolgirls made pregnancy pact – The Daily Record
Ireland: Baby pact teenagers in race to become mothers
India: Teen ‘pregnancy pact’ shocks US city

Not only that, it’s also major blog fodder. I reported on it (Did group of teens make pact to get pregnant?) as did other bloggers such as

SuperNanny.com (How are parents of boys supposed to protect them from girls like this?)
Mother Talkers (Sad Story on Teen Pregnancy)
Jezebel (Pregnancy Pacts: Better Than Suicide Ones, Still Not That Good)
Babylune.com (The Pregnancy Pact and Update on Pregnancy Pact)
WearyParent.com (Is Hollywood to Blame for the Pregnancy Pact?)
SoloMother.com (Teen pregnancy pact has me throwing up this morning)
InsideFatherhood.com (Pregnancy pact quadruples teen pregnancies at MA high school)
Great Minds Think Like Me (Pregnancy pact.)
A Child Chosen (Fast Times for Teen Pregnancy)

So, what do you think about the whole thing?

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Post from: Blisstree

Pregnancy pact making news all over the world

Did group of teens make pact to get pregnant?

Marijke Durning, RN — Fri, 20 Jun 2008 11:25:16 +0000

I’ve written about teen pregnancy and my biggest concern about teens who get pregnant is their health and the health of the child (Health issues for teen moms, Teen pregnancy rate in US drops), but I still think it isn’t a good idea for most. Unfortunately, although there are many moms who had their babies in their teens and they and their families are doing fabulously, most teen pregnancies aren’t that successful.

That’s why, if this story is true – it’s very sad: Spike in School’s Pregnancies Leads to Report That Some Resulted From Girls’ Pact.

According to the article, at least 17 girls who attend the same high school in Massachusetts are pregnant, and it is said that at least half of them made a pact to get pregnant. The sad part is that *none* of them is over 16 years old. If the reports are right, it seems the fathers of the babies are well into their 20s.

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Post from: Blisstree

Did group of teens make pact to get pregnant?