Psychological and other consequences of early pregnancy for girls

Some of the consequences are:

• Pregnancy often means the end of formal education for adolescents because they drop out of school when they become pregnant. (Figure 8.2)
• Adolescent pregnancy changes a girl's choice of career, opportunities and future marriage. Mostly unmarried mothers resort to low-paying and risky jobs, domestic work, and even prostitution to support their children.
• Early marriage due to an unplanned pregnancy is frequently an unhappy, unstable one that leads to divorce. Both mother and child face the stigma of illegitimacy when marriage doesn't take place or when divorce occurs.
• Young mothers are often ill-prepared to raise a child, which may lead to childrearing problems like child abuse or neglect.
• Girls resorting to prostitution due to early and unwanted pregnancy are at higher risk of gender-based violence, substance abuse, and STIs such as HIV.