Unintended Pregnancy among Teenagers: Important Roles for Primary Care Providers
- Jonathan E. Fielding, MD, MPH; and
- Carolyn A. Williams, RN, PhD
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Schools of Medicine and Public Health
University of California, Los Angeles
Los Angeles, CA 90024 -
College of Nursing, University of Kentucky
Lexington, KY 40536
Excerpt
Primary care clinicians, including internists and other physicians, are faced with few prevention opportunities as compelling as helping teenage patients to avoid unwanted pregnancy. In the United States, approximately one million teenage girls become pregnant each year, and most of these pregnancies are unintended (1). More than 40% of these young women obtain abortions, and about 38% of those who give birth are 17 years of age or younger (2). Between 1960 and 1986, the percentage of adolescent mothers who were unmarried when they gave birth increased from 15% to more than 60% (2, 3). The majority of families with
This 100-word excerpt has been provided in the absence of an abstract.
Article and Author Information
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Requests for Reprints: Jonathan E. Fielding, MD, Johnson & Johnson Health Management, Suite 200, 2825 Santa Monica Boulevard, Santa Monica, CA 90404.
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