Teen Pregnancy Prevention Month – May 2025

History of Teen Pregnancy Prevention Month

Teens are more likely to make good decisions when they and their parents talk about relationships and things related to sex. Teens who report having frequent talks with their parents about sex are more likely to use birth control methods when they finally become sexually active, according to studies. Studies also show that these teenagers desire to know how their parents feel about intimacy and relationships.

Teenage pregnancy (conceptions often involving females between the ages of 16 and 19) was significantly more prevalent in past centuries and was especially common in industrialized nations in the 20th century. By the early 1970s, roughly a quarter of Norwegian women born in the early 1950s had become teenage moms. Since that time, however, rates have progressively decreased throughout the industrialized world. Fewer than 10% of those born in Norway in the late 1970s became teenage moms, but the rates have declined since then.

The Personal Responsibility and Work Opportunity Act of 1996, which became the foundation for drafting policies on teenage pregnancy prevention in the United States and the basis of the National Campaign to Prevent Teen Pregnancy (now known as Power to Decide), sought to reduce the number of young black and Hispanic single mothers living on welfare.

Many of the same pregnancy-related difficulties affect pregnant teens as they do other mothers. Under the age of 15, girls have much to worry about since they are less likely to be physically mature to sustain a successful pregnancy or give birth. For girls aged 15 to 19, the biological influences of age are less important than socioeconomic variables. Low birth weight, early labor, anemia, and preeclampsia are linked to biological age since they are seen in adolescent deliveries even if other risk factors like access to prenatal care are taken into account.