Teen Pregnancy happens.  There are many things you can do to avoid getting pregnant. Getting pregnant is 100% preventable.  There are other ways to try and avoid getting pregnant. But to be 100% sure, abstinence is the way to go. Teen pregnancy is scary, you jump from being a teen in high school, to a teenage mom. Being a mother comes with a lot of responsibilities, from late wake up calls, dipper changes, to food.

You can talk to your parents and/or doctor about using birth control; the birth control pill is 99% effective. Of course there are side affects to the pill. “Headaches and dizziness are very common, but stay calm, this side effects will go away with time.” said Hilda Hutcherson, MD, an ob-gyn professor at Columbia University from the April 2008 article”Seven Common Birth Control Side Effects” on Health.com.

 The most common side effect of the pill is nausea, you may feel sick for a few months, your body is getting used to the pill. If you are interested in learning more contact your doctor. Condoms are the most known way to prevent pregnancy.  You should always use a condom, not only are they good way to prevent pregnancy, but they also help preventing you from getting STD’s. If you are only using a condom and they break that’s not a good thing. If you have sex and do end up getting pregnant as a teen, there are choices that you will need to make with the support of family and your doctor. The options that you have are abortion, adoption, or keeping the baby. Abortion is the removal of the embryo from the uterus; the termination of the pregnancy. Adoption is when you have the baby and you give it to a family that is unable to have a child or a family you believe will take care of your child. The last option is you can keep it.  If you are in the stage where you have to make a decision you need to really think about it. You need to think about what is the best choice for you and the baby. If you know you are old enough to have sex, be responsible enough to do the right thing.

 “Teen Pregnancy” an article from March of Dimes published in March 2010, discussed teen pregnancy, “more than 10% of all U.S.  births in 2006 were mothers under age 20. Most teenage births (about 67%) are to girls ages 18 and 19…about 1 in 4 teen mothers under age 18 have a 2^nd baby within 2 years after the 1^st baby.” “Teen birth rates in the U.S. are high, exceeding those in most developed counties.

Here at MMU just like any other high school we have pregnant teenagers. We do not judge, if you are pregnant then that is your own choice. “Parents do a really good job about talking to their teens about having sex, here at school we focus on school and life not pregnancy” said Mrs. Wise, MMU school nurse.  “Adoption and abortion are alternatives, they should be using protection.  You should be planning your future, not a baby.”

If you are a teen that is in the stage when sex is becoming a temptation, remember if you do not want the chance of having a baby in your life, do not do it. If you are having sex you should be responsible enough to take care of a baby. Live your life as a teen and worry about babies later.