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Written By: Agencies | Published : May 30, 2014 8:24 PM IST
We know that friends and peers influence one another on adopting or shunning behaviours like smoking, drinking or exercise but having children?
If we believe researchers, having children is contagious among female high school friends during early adulthood.
'The study shows the contagion is particularly strong within a short window of time: it increases immediately after a high school friend gives birth, reaches a peak about two years later, and then decreases, becoming negligible in the long-run,' explained Nicoletta Balbo, a postdoctoral fellow at Bocconi University in Italy.
In their study, Balbo and co-author Nicola Barban from University of Groningen in the Netherlands, focused on over 1,700 American women who were tracked from when they were at least 15-years-old through approximately age 30.
The researchers looked only at the impact of female high school friends on the birth of first children and their findings only held true for planned pregnancies.
'Being surrounded by friends who are new parents makes people feel pressure to have kids as well. By observing their friends, people learn how to fulfill this new role,' Barban explained.
Having children at the same time as friends may bring about many advantages - friends can share the childbearing experience and thus reduce the stresses associated with pregnancy and childrearing.
'It's also easier for people to remain friends when they are experiencing parenthood at the same time,' the authors said in the study appeared in the journal American Sociological Review.
Several sociological theories have proposed social influence as an important factor for shaping fertility choices.
'We believe our study is the first to show this type of connection among friends,' Balbo noted.
Adolescent pregnancy also termed as teenage pregnancy is referred to the pregnancies that happens to girls under the age of 20. An adolescent can get impregnated after entering the puberty phase or after the first menstrual cycle. A pregnant teenager faces the same predicament or obstetrics issues like that of an adult woman. But a pregnancy under the age of 15 is not considered healthy in general. There are certain health risks associated with women getting pregnant between the age of 15 to 19. Research has shown that teenage pregnancy can result in low birth weight of the baby, premature labour, serious birth defects in the child and many more other issues. It can also present the mother with a host of health troubles like anemia, high blood pressure and many other health threats. Pregnant adolescents are more likely to have unsafe abortions. According to the WHO an estimated three million unsafe abortions happen globally every year among girls aged 15 to 19. Unsafe abortions can also lead to lasting health problems and maternal deaths. There are moredangers associated with adolescent pregnancies than the normal ones.
Pregnancy complications and early childbirth are leading causes of death among girls aged between 15 to 19.Stillbirths and newborn deaths are 50 percent more among infants born to adolescent mothers. Even though infants born to adolescent mothers have health issues and other lasting problems to deal with, one cannot ignore the fact that she is still a mother bearing a child.
Adolescent pregnancy has its own perilis. Awareness and education about the dangers of adolescent pregnancy can put this perilous act to a stop. Steps by the government and various watchdogs needs to be taken to tackle the issue of adolescent pregnancy. In this section read on the ups and downs of adolescent pregnancy, the measures taken to address it and how to avert the ills of adolescent pregnancy.
With inputs from IANS
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