Guest Blog: Teen Issues – Teen Pregnancy and Complications
A little over 1,000 teens gives birth every day. Just yesterday I held the 5-week-old baby of one of the teens that visits my library. The majority of teen fiction that deals with teen pregnancy focuses on only one part of the discussion: will the teen mother keep the baby or will she either end the pregnancy or decide to give her baby up for adoption. But what about pregnancy complications, where is that depicted in the literature? In an earlier blog post we discussed pregnancy miscarriage and infant loss, but that is only part of the story. Because at the end of the day pregnancy is pregnancy, there is a chance for a wide variety of complications such as eclampsia, placental abruption, gestational diabetes, hyperemesis gravidarum and more. When teens suddenly find themselves facing not only a pregnancy, but a complicated one at that, where do they turn for information and support? Information regarding pregnancy complications tends to be complication specific, not age specific (with the exception of dealing with pregnancy after the age of 35).
For more information on teen pregnancy complications:
WebMD: Teen Pregnancy, medical risks and realities
March of Dimes
Livestrong.com: Complications with Teenage Pregnancy
TLC: Pregnancy Complications in Teenage Mothers
As you can see, the information regarding pregnancy complications for teenagers is short and lacks depth. You’ll want to refer teens to more informative, disease/complication specific sites. For example, the Hyperemesis Education and Research Foundation (HER Foundation), specializes in information on HG. The March of Dimes is actually another good resources for a variety of complications.
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Filed under: Teen Issues, Teen Pregnancy

About Karen Jensen, MLS
Karen Jensen has been a Teen Services Librarian for almost 32 years. She created TLT in 2011 and is the co-editor of The Whole Library Handbook: Teen Services with Heather Booth (ALA Editions, 2014).
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Excellent post. One book that deals with a complication is Pregnant Pause. In my novel, Unsaid, the 13-year-old is terrified that she will die like a relative died from eclampsia. I took medication that kept me alive back in 1972 but it's off the market now, and my daughter was in the hospital three times during her pregnancy with hyperemesis. These are not minor ills and can be fatal.
Actually I was thrilled by the article. There things that I find hard to understand but I did learn things about teen pregnancy. I do hope I could read more write-ups about teen pregnancy because I find it very interesting.
Since pregnancy is considered to be one of the most complex stages in womanhood, each woman who is under this stage is advised to purchase a health insurance. There are actually a lot of things that can go wrong during the period of pregnancy.
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Thank you so much for the wonderful information.This is really important for me.I am searching this kind of information from a long time and finally got it.
great post
This is very informative. I guess it all comes to upbringing. Telling your kids the meaning, importance, and the essential information regarding sex once they’re of the right age is really important. Prevention is always better than a cure.
Nice to read from your article .The texts provided here regarding pregnancy is very informative.