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Teenage pregnancy; Pregnancy - teenage
Adolescent pregnancy is pregnancy in girls age 19 or younger.
The rate of adolescent pregnancy has steadily declined since reaching an all-time high in 1990, mostly due to the increased use of condoms.
Since no form of contraception is completely effective, abstinence (not having sexual intercourse) is the only sure way to prevent pregnancy. A sexually active teenager who does not use contraception has a 90% chance of becoming pregnant within a year.
Why teenagers have sex, and do so without effective methods of contraception, is a topic of debate. Suggested reasons include:
When compared with other industrialized nations, the United States has the highest rates of pregnancy, abortion, and childbirth among teenagers, despite similar or higher rates of sexual activity in the other countries.
Teens are more likely to become pregnant if they:
U.S. Teenage Pregnancy Statistics: Overall Trends, Trends by Race and Ethnicity and State-by-State Information. New York, NY: The Alan Guttmacher Institute; 2004.