reproductive health services for adolescents - Pathfinder International

Module 16/Unit 7
Specific Objective #1: Explain the importance of delaying
childbearing
CONTENT
Knowledge/Attitudes/Skills
HEALTH RISKS OF EARLY
PREGNANCY
• Cephalopelvic disproportion
(CPD): Adolescents younger than 17
often have not reached physical
maturity and their pelvises may be
too narrow to accommodate the
baby's head. In these cases,
obstructed delivery and prolonged
labor are more likely, thereby
increasing the risk of hemorrhage,
infection, and fistula.
• Pre-eclampsia (hypertension of
pregnancy): If pre-eclampsia is left
uncontrolled, it can progress to
extreme hypertension, seizures,
convulsions, and cerebral
hemorrhage.
• Anemia: The World Bank reports that
anemia is 2 times more common in
adolescent mothers than among
older ones.
• Unsafe abortion: Few young women
have sufficient money to pay for an
abortion. They tend to wait later in
their pregnancy before seeking an
abortion and often resort to cheaper
and more dangerous methods.
• Premature Birth: Infants born to
adolescent mothers are more likely to
be premature, of low birth weight, and
to suffer consequences of retarded
fetal growth.
• Spontaneous Abortion and Still
Births: Young adolescents under the
Training/Learning Methods
(Time Required)
TRAINER PRESENTATION AND
DISCUSSION (15 MIN.)
The trainer should:
Ask Px, what are the health risks
related to early pregnancy
• Using Transparency 7.1: Health
Risks of Early Pregnancy and the
content on the left-hand side of the
page, fill in any missing information.
7.1
• Using Trainer’s Tool 7.1
Demographic Data or available local
data, fill in Transparency 7.2:
Pregnancy Outcomes by Age.
7.1
7.2
MIND MAPPING (30 MIN.)
The trainer should:
• Draw a picture of a tree on a flipchart.
• The trunk of the tree should be
labeled "Unwanted pregnancy.” See
Pathfinder International
90
Adolescent Curriculum