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Summary
Most teenage girls don't plan to get pregnant, but many do. Teen pregnancies carry extra health risks to both the mother and the baby. Often, teens don't get prenatal care soon enough, which can lead to problems later on. They have a higher risk for pregnancy-related high blood pressure and its complications. Risks for the baby include premature birth and a low birth weight.
If you're a pregnant teen, you can help yourself and your baby by:
- Getting regular prenatal care
- Taking your prenatal vitamins for your health and to prevent some birth defects
- Avoiding smoking, alcohol, and drugs
- Using a condom, if you are having sex, to prevent sexually transmitted infections (STIs) that could hurt your baby. If your or your partner is allergic to latex, you can use polyurethane condoms.
Symptoms
- Symptoms of Pregnancy: What Happens First (Mayo Foundation for Medical Education and Research) Also in Spanish
Diagnosis and Tests
- Pregnancy Test (National Library of Medicine) Also in Spanish
Prevention and Risk Factors
- Birth Control: MedlinePlus Health Topic (National Library of Medicine) Also in Spanish
Living With
- Having a Baby (For Teens) (American College of Obstetricians and Gynecologists)
- Pregnancy and Nutrition: MedlinePlus Health Topic (National Library of Medicine) Also in Spanish
- When Your Teen Is Having a Baby (Nemours Foundation) Also in Spanish
Related Issues
- Adoption: Considering Your Options and Making a Plan (Children's Bureau) - PDF
- Could I Get Pregnant if I Have Sex During My Period? (Nemours Foundation)
- Helping Teen Parents and Their Children Build Healthy Futures (American Academy of Pediatrics) Also in Spanish
Clinical Trials
- ClinicalTrials.gov: Pregnancy in Adolescence (National Institutes of Health)
Journal Articles References and abstracts from MEDLINE/PubMed (National Library of Medicine)
- Article: Navigating antenatal care: The lived experiences of adolescent girls and young...
- Article: A multiscale geographically weighted regression analysis of teenage pregnancy and associated...
- Article: Developing application software to quickly detect the adolescent's risky behaviour to...
- Teenage Pregnancy -- see more articles
Find an Expert
- Eunice Kennedy Shriver National Institute of Child Health and Human Development Also in Spanish
- How to Find Find an Ob-Gyn (American College of Obstetricians and Gynecologists)
- March of Dimes Foundation Also in Spanish
Men
- Becoming a Father (Boston Children's Hospital)
Patient Handouts
- Teenage pregnancy (Medical Encyclopedia) Also in Spanish