A study was conducted with its purpose to identify new ways to increase the impact of pregnancy prevention interventions on the number of children born to adolescents. Teen pregnancies are a big issue today with 53 births per 1,000 women aged 15-19 in the United States, in 2002, but many wonder why. The tools to successfully prevent pregnancy are all there, but many adolescents do not utilize these tools.

The study used a racially/ethnically diverse group of 1,568, pregnant 13-18 year olds. The pregnant teens were asked to explain why they had not used contraception at the time of conception. The most common category received was that they were “not ready to prevent pregnancy.” Now the bigger question arises, “why are so many teenage women not ready to prevent pregnancy?”

The answer could possibly be a lack of education into the possible consequences of having unprotected sexual intercourse. Many school systems teach the children about STI’s (STD’s) and the risk that the teen could become pregnant. Additionally, contraception methods are discussed, so sexual education is unlikely to be the reason.

The types of birth control methods may not be convenient enough. However, this seems highly unlikely. Why? A condom only takes a few seconds to take out of the packaging and to apply. However, the birth control pill, an oral contraceptive for women, is even more convenient. It only requires the woman to swallow a single pill daily, hardly a difficult task.

The study came to the conclusion that the best way to promote pregnancy prevention in adolescents is to shift the focus entirely on the teen and to help young women develop goals that would be threatened if they were to become pregnant.

“The most expedient way to strengthen the impact of pregnancy prevention programs on adolescent childbearing is to shift the focus of intervention from overcoming logistical barriers and misperceptions about the need for contraception, to helping young women develop goals that make adolescent childbearing a threat to what they want in life. This means intervening actively enough to ensure that goal setting translates into an internal desire to postpone childbearing beyond adolescence.” - Excerpt from Reasons for Ineffective Contraceptive Use Antedating Adolescent Pregnancies Part 1: An Indicator of Gaps in Family Planning Services

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Birth Control Buzz is a service company that provides birth control prices, types of birth control(prescription required), health administrative services, and birth control statistics predominantly to US patients seeking to purchase pharmaceuticals on-line. For more information, call 1-866-868-8850 or visit http://www.birthcontrolbuzz.com/.