Society and Teenage Pregnancy in Jamaica

Rates of teenage pregnancy in Jamaica are amongst the highest in the Caribbean, with the birth rate for 15-19 year olds at 108 births per 1,000 ladies. Forty-5 percent of all Jamaican females who are 15 to 24 years old have been pregnant by 19 years of age, and 41% have given birth. Ladies in between the ages of 10 and 19 account for roughly 25% of all births in Jamaica and about 22% of births in 15-19 year-olds are second births. There are a quantity of consequences to teenage pregnancy in Jamaica. Initial of all, the education of the adolescent mother is disrupted and frequently totally ended. Indeed, only 36% of teenage mothers total much more than 4 years of secondary school, compared to 50% of girls who by no means turn out to be pregnant. The mother, then, is severely restricted in her job opportunities. Moreover, parents and society in common will not appear kindly upon a young girl who has engaged in sexual activity at a young age, and frequently a girl is disowned and should assistance herself and her kid alone. Teenage pregnancy in Jamaica also carries with it well being risks to the mother and kid, although doubts have been raised as to whether or not these risks might also be attributed to socio-financial elements. Statistics show that maternal mortality rate is 40% greater for mothers below 15 and 13% greater for mothers in their twenties. It is not only the teen mother who experiences wellness risks, but the kid of the adolescent mother as properly. Analysis points to the reality that the neo-natal death rate for babies born to adolescent girls is roughly 3 occasions greater than for babies born to adults. Speaking of socio-financial aspects, there are further wellness risks to the kid due to the usually precarious economic circumstance of the adolescent mother. Frequently, the mother passes lengthy periods of time away from the kid to attempt to locate perform or chooses to function added hours to make adequate funds. This usually leads to the mother stopping breast-feeding early and switching the kid to foods which lack the crucial nutrients identified in breast milk; this leads to poor well being and malnutrition amongst Jamaican youngsters. The socio-financial scenario of the Jamaican mother also frequently leads to kid shifting, exactly where a kid is sent to live with other loved ones members or other households, away from the mother. Studies have shown that 1 out of 5 Jamaican youngsters did not live with either their mother or father; really usually the shifted kid will be placed in a negative atmosphere. What Jamaican society is starting to recognize is that the negative effects of teenage pregnancy in Jamaica are not felt solely by the adolescent mother or her kid. The Jamaican economy suffers since of a poor labor force due to so several young girls getting uneducated and simply because the resources of the country should be funneled into welfare programs for teenage mothers. Indeed, teenage pregnancy in Jamaica is certainly a complicated and multi-faceted difficulty.