Teenage Pregnancy | Orlando Women’s Center
Approximately 750,000 teenage pregnancies occur in the US each year. Two-thirds of those occur between the ages of 18 and 19 years. Nearly 80% of teenage pregnancies are unwanted. Teenage pregnancy, birth and abortion rates in the U.S. have been declining for over a decade. Nevertheless, the U.S. continues to have a substantially higher teenage pregnancy rate than most other developed countries. The U.S. rate is nearly twice that of Australia or Canada and more than four times that of France.
86% of the decline in teenage pregnancy is due to improved contraceptive use and the remaining 14% attributed to teens delaying sex. Still, by the time teenagers are 18 years old, nearly 70% have engaged in sexual intercourse. The reason for the improvement in the U.S. pregnancy rate is due to the use of injectable and implantable contraceptives. The reason the U.S. pregnancy rate is so much higher than in other developed countries is because there are more teenagers in those developed countries using effective birth control. Nearly 85 to 90% of teenagers in France have access to birth control. Teenagers that are poor in the U.S. are more likely not to use birth control and become pregnant and have an unwanted pregnancy. They are also at the highest risk of having a Sexually Transmitted Infection (STI).
Teenagers in other developed countries have easy access to Family Planning Clinics where they are educated on birth control and STI prevention. In order to reduce the unwanted teenage pregnancy rate in the U.S., we must allow teenagers to have better access to birth control and gynecology services. We are committed to offering and teaching teens about birth control and prevention of STI’s. We emphasize abstinence, but understand that the majority of teenagers are having sex by the time they turn 18 years of age and therefore we’re committed to preventing them from having an unwanted pregnancy or developing a disease that may affect their reproductive health in the future.
We offer teenagers Gynecological services which consist of a yearly Pap Smear, breast exam, pelvic exam, and routine lab tests. We will also perform vaginal cultures, urine, and blood tests for Sexually Transmitted Diseases (STD’s) and treatment. We also promote education and the prevention of STD’s.
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