The rate of teenage pregnancies in Australia has icantly over a number of years and has been stable in recent years. ent of children are now born to women aged 19 years and under. ved that around one in four sexually active teenage women may become take. About half ed pregnancies are terminated. One in six women aged 20 to 29, who are asked about pregnancy, will have experienced a pregnancy as a teenager. Some pregnant teenagers are so shocked and frightened that they try to cope by ignoring or denying the pregnancy. This means they don’t receive proper antenatal care or miss the safest window of opportunity for abortion. Research indicates that sex education and access to effective contraception are essential in preventing unplanned pregnancy in ulation. Options An unplanned pregnancy is a traumatic event and a teenage woman needs empathetic Pressure from parents, medical staff, friends and partners can exacerbate her stress. Her options include: • Abortion r cent of Australian women seeking abortion are teenagers. There age restriction on abortion as long as the woman erstanding of the purpose, nature, risks, effects and alternatives. • Adoption ively few women relinquish their option anymore, although adoption agencies and the demand l exist. • Foster care ster family until the teenage mother feels ready cope as the primary carer. • Parenting stigma of single passed, which means that keeping child is more common than in the Complications of teenage pregnancy Teenage women generally encounter more problems during pregnancy than older women. Reasons for the higher complication rate include: • Physical immaturity…

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