Introduction

Teenage pregnancy is technically defined as occurring when women under the age of 20 become pregnant, although in the United States, the term usually refers to girls younger than 18 years of age. The youngest mother on record is Linda Medina she was only 5 years old when she gave birth to a baby boy in 1939 (wikipedia). However, mosts girls do not become fully fertile until much later. Typically the average age is 12.5 for first mentrual period in the United States. There was a myth that teenagers pose a health risk to them or the child by being so young and undeveloped. This is not true, pregant teens between ages of 15-19 actually have the some experience, being pregant as women between the ages of 20-30. The teenage birth rate in United States is 43 per 1000 women. This is the highest in a developed country. If we included abortions it would be 74.5 per 1000 women.