Assessment Of The Effect Of Early Pregnancy And Abortion Among Teenage Girls Under 13 To 17

1.1 BACKGROUND OF THE STUDY

One of the salient responsibilities of women is procreation as ordained by God. However there are conditions to be met before a woman could start procreating. In African context, the act of procreation is a responsibility of grown up young adults who have been found to be physically, economically, emotionally, spiritually and at large psychologically matured; that is why marriage act is highly contracted and celebrated in our present societies. The observed situation prevalent in both developed and underdeveloped world is such that there are, however, girls as young as ten who are sexually active and occasionally become pregnant and give birth, such that girls of between thirteen and nineteen years are now getting pregnant at an alarming rate. Surveys by investigators such as Briggs (2015), Onuzulike (2016) and others revealed that teenagers become sexually active at an early age with corresponding high fertility. This condition is widely referred to as teenage pregnancy. Teenage Pregnancy is defined as ‘a teenager or under-aged usually within ages of thirteen to nineteen years becoming pregnant’. The term in every day speech usually refers to women who have not reached legal adulthood who become pregnant, (Oguguo, 2015).

Teenage is often used interchangeably with adolescence. World Health Organization – WHO (2019) opined that, it is the period between 10 and 19 years when the secondary sex characteristics appear. Turner & Helms (2015) reported that the teen years fall between the ages of 13 and 17 years. The issue of pregnancies among teenage girls seems to be one of the social problems facing not only Nigeria, but also several other nations of the world.

Teenage sexual activities in Nigeria also tend to be on the increase. A major consequence of these increase sexual activities among teenagers is out of wedlock pregnancies that may result in abortion, childbirth or even death. Pregnancy at whatever stage in life can be a life changing experience that cuts across boundaries of race, educational attainment and socio-economic status (National Campaign 2018). Motherhood places demands on one's life which were hitherto non-existent prior to the birth of the woman. When a girl that should be in school becomes pregnant, her entire life could be completely altered as her hopes and aspirations could be shattered. Teenage parents according to Kumar, et al (2017) are parents between the ages of 13 and 19 years. Hofforth, Reid & Frank, (2015) believe that teenage pregnancy is a delinquent behavior resulting from stress, dislike, malice, boredom and unhappiness experienced by a teenage girl within her home environment. Other predisposing factors include alcoholism, drug addiction, and sexual promiscuity.

According to Kinby (2016) victims of teenage pregnancy lacked information or probably were not adequately educated on safe-sex either by their parents, schools or development agencies that could have enabled them deal with friends who lure them into sex prematurely. He stressed further that children of single parents are more vulnerable to teenage pregnancy. In the same vein exposure to sexual content on television, sexuality in the media, pornographic and sex chart rooms by teenagers, could most likely tune them to engage in sexual activities. Acceptance of gift for sex and some adult deliberately taking advantage of poor teenagers, encouraging them into having sex were also noted as factors responsible for teenage pregnancy (United Nation, 2017). Yampolslaaya, Brown & Greenbaum (2016) posited that approximately 60% of adolescent mothers live in poverty at the time of the birth of their babies and “approximately 73% go on welfare within 5 years of giving birth”, its associated motherhood are characterized with shame, disgrace, and school dropout sometimes end up the individual’s dreams of achieving higher pursuits.

Teenage pregnancy has attracted a great deal of concern and attention from religious leaders, the general public, policymakers, and social scientists, particularly in the developed and less developed countries especially in Nigeria. The continuing apprehension about teenage pregnancy is based on the profound impact it can have on the lives of the girls and their children. A woman must be physically and medically matured before procreating. Some teenagers lose their babies or died due to complications during birth or during abortions.  The issue of abortion has attracted substantial attention in recent times in Nigeria and everywhere in the world; abortion has therefore become a global issue (Kinby 2016). The major concern in most of the discussions on abortion and related situation draws heavily from the fact that abortion constitutes severe danger to a woman’s health especially in teenagers as it can apart from being fatal, also affect fertility, hence the need for this study.

1.2 STATEMENT OF THE PROBLEM

Research shows that the teen years are the most stressful and confusing times of life (WHO 2019). During this period, teenagers are expected to acquire education and skills needed for the future. On the contrary, many teenage girls engage in premarital sex, which expose them to the risks of sexually transmitted infection (STIs) and teenage pregnancies. Pregnancy is usually welcome when it occurs at the appropriate time such as a mature age and in wedlock. On the contrary, it is most unwelcome when it occurs outside of wedlock or during the teen years, when the individual should be acquiring skills in formal or non-formal environments. Numerous studies Audu (2017) & WHO (2019) have indicated poverty, pornography, mass media and peer influence as some of the factors responsible for teenage pregnancy. All teenagers who engage in pre-marital sex are vulnerable to pregnancy.

The issue of teenage pregnancy is no longer a new thing in any society be it developed, developing or less developed nations. Various reasons has been adduced for its existence but the basic problem is the persistency and the geometric progression of its expansion despite all the efforts that has been made by both government, schools, religious bodies and non- governmental agencies at resolving some identified factors leading to this cancerous or decadence in our societies. Coupled with teenage pregnancy is the menace of abortion in teenage girls which directly affects their future and health. It ia against this backdrop that this study intends to assess the effect of early pregnancy and abortion on teenage girl under 13 to 17.