CHAPTER ONE
INTRODUCTION
Background of the Study
Teenage pregnancy has been existing in the society for long, hence is not a new issue. The incidence of child pregnancy cut across all ethnic groups in the country and abroad. Presently it’s social, economic, health, spiritual effect on the teenagers, the family and the society at large is a thing that calls for concern. These days, teenagers do not consider being pregnant at an early age without marriage an irresponsible act, they rather look at it from the angle that one condition or the other might have lead one to such act. This at times make some of them victims for more than a time before putting a stop to it or even continue till adult stage.
A teen is one between the ages of 13 – 19 years. The teenager year is a time of rapid growth and development, which Kay (2004) describes as adolescent (a period between childhood and adulthood). This is a time where the teenagers fight or search for themselves, their future, the answers to what do I want to be? Where do I start from? And what do I want to do?
Teenage pregnancy could be referred to as “baby having a baby”. This implies any pregnancy occurring in girls below the ages of 18 can be easily classified to as teenage pregnancy. Teenage pregnancy is pregnancy in human females under the age of 20 at the time that the pregnancy ends. A pregnancy can take place in a pubertal female before menarche (the first menstrual period), which signals the possibility of fertility but usually occurs after menarche. In well-nourished girls, menarche usually takes place around the age of 12 or 13. Pregnant teenagers face many of the same obstetrics issues as other women. There are, however, additional medical concerns for mothers aged under 15. For mothers aged 15–19, risks are associated more with socio-economic factors than with the biological effects of age. However, research has shown risks of low birth weight, premature  labour, anemia, and pre-eclampsia are connected to the biological age itself, as it was observed in teen births even after controlling for other risk factors (Such as utilization of antenatal care etc).
In developed countries, teenage pregnancies are often associated with social issues, including lower educational levels, higher rates of poverty, and other poorer life outcomes in children of teenage mothers. Teenage pregnancy in developed countries is usually outside of marriage, and carries a social stigma in many communities and cultures. By contrast, teenage parents in developing countries are often married, and their pregnancies welcomed by family and society. However, in these societies, early pregnancy may combine with malnutrition and poor health care to cause medical problems.