Stigmatizing Teen Mothers is Dangerous

Here are some telling excerpts on teen pregnancy that I ran across today:

From a 1985 study of teenaged mothers in the 1970s (still widely cited on the internet) by Carolyn Makinson called The health consequences of teenage fertility: "Research indicates that pregnant teens are less likely to receive prenatal care, often seeking it in the third trimester, if at all."

Similarly, The Guttmacher Institute reports that "One-third of pregnant teens receive insufficient prenatal care and that their children are more likely to suffer from health issues in childhood or be hospitalized than those born to older women.^"

Neither of these statements is untrue, and neither should be very unfamiliar to Americans who attended public school in the past two decades--or who have been on sites such as Stayteen.org, or watched MTV's 16 and Pregnant. Both statements should make you pause, and think twice.

But the excerpt that I found the most telling, the most eloquent summation of why shaming young mothers is bad practice, and medically unwise comes from a much more recent (2006) study:

"Young mothers who are given high-quality maternity care have significantly healthier babies than those that do not. Many of the health-issues associated with teenage mothers, many of whom do not have health insurance, appear to result from lack of access to high-quality medical care,”

44 simple words.

For decades, the approach towards teen pregnancy in America has been that is undesirable, across the board, no exceptions. That it is dangerous for the mother and the child—low birth weight, prematurity, anemia, lower IQs, higher rates of abuse and neglect. That there are no good teen mothers, or teen fathers.

It’s an interesting observation.

And it’s pinned on the wrong cause.

I’d argue, along with a growing number of other people, that teen pregnancy is a symptom along with those other indicators, rather than a cause of them. The root of the issue is found in socioeconomic factors, in racial indicators, in immigrant status, in educational attainment level. If you compare older mothers with similar characteristics—lower levels of education, low socioeconomic status, immigrants to this country whose English is limited, you find a similar trend: babies and mothers aren’t as healthy. Women who’s access to medical care is limited—whether it is because they cannot afford insurance, do not know where to go for care, cannot speak the language to explain themselves, or simply live in an area where care is not adequately provided (in rural areas, or greatly taxed inner-city systems)—suffer.

Teen mothers, and young mothers, often face many of these same obstacles, with the added pressure of insensitive, heavy-handed campaigns.

The daily news site Colorlines, says this about these campaigns:

“A controversial ad series that the National Campaign ran in 2001 is an apt example. The group published print advertisements with photos of young people with one word across their chests. The most shocking of the series were the two with young women of color, one with the word “DIRTY” and the other with the word “CHEAP.” The words were part of sentences that ran along the spine of the ad in smaller words, which upon closer inspection focused on changing dirty diapers and the cost of condoms, respectively. But the main message was clear: being teen parents meant something about who these girls were, something decidedly negative.”

This series of ads, like so many others, presents young mothers, and to a much lesser extent, young fathers, as being inherently the problem. Being a young mother myself—becoming pregnant at 20, as a junior in college—I can personally attest how much this can get under the skin of young parents, increasing their unwillingness to seek help, medical or otherwise, when they know it will result in harsh judgment, stares, and stinging remarks—even from trusted advisors, doctors, and friends. I hid my pregnancy for as long as I was able, and while I sought out medical care, and took care of myself and my baby, I can understand why other women in a similar situation would not—or could not. Shunning by family, friends, and communities, losing the roof over their heads, having doctors treat them as insignificant—all these are very real possibilities a young parent faces.

And this puts them at risk.  It puts their children at risk.

A good number of the dolls in the I, MOM exhibit represent young women who died in 2012.

That said, organizations like Albuquerque’s Young Women United and the campaign they spear-headed, Youn Parents Day, are a sign of the changing tide. And, might I say, more power to them and the women and families they educate, and the lives they can improve, and save.

If you're a young parent, or your life has been touched by one in a positive way, please join the campaign. Take a photo of yourself holding a sign that proclaims "Young Parents Deserve Recognition," and tag Young Women United to it on Facebook in solidarity for Young Parents Day on August 25, 2012!