By Isobel Williams via SWNS
Girls who have a teenpregnancy are more at risk of an early grave, new research has revealed.
Those who fell pregnant twice before they hit 20 doubled their risk of dying before the age of 31.
And just getting pregnant once increased the risk one and a half times.
The team looked at 2.2 million females who were alive at 12 years of age from April 1, 1991, to March 31, 2021, living in the province of Ontario, Canada.
They analyzed the rate of premature mortality from 12 years of age onward in association with the number of teen pregnancies.
The study, published in JAMA Network Open, included the age and nature of the teen pregnancy (ie, birth, miscarriage, or ectopic pregnancy contrasted with induced abortion), as well as the cause of death.
The researchers found that those who experienced a teen pregnancy were more likely to reside in the lowest neighborhood income quintile and in an area with less completion of a high school education.
They also saw that those who had a teen pregnancy had a higher proportion of self-harm history between 12 and 19 years of age than those who didn’t fall pregnant.
The research team notes that the leading causes of death for females under the age of 19 are unintentional injury, suicide, and homicide while in women aged 20-44 unintentional injury, suicide, and cancer are in the lead.
The main discovery of the study was that the risk of premature death by approximately 31 years of age was 1.5 times higher among those who had one teen pregnancy and 2.1 times higher among those with at least two teen pregnancies.
Those who had a teen pregnancy before 16 years of age had the highest incidence rate of premature death.
Among those with a teen pregnancy, noninjury-related premature mortality was more common than either unintentional or intentional deaths from injury.
The researchers suggest that tackling factors such as family instability, poverty, crowded housing, and parental separation could help to reduce this elevated risk.
Dr. Joel Ray from the University of Toronto said: “This cohort study suggests that teen pregnancy may be a readily identifiable marker for subsequent risk of premature mortality in early adulthood.
“Apparent protective factors for the prevention of adolescent pregnancy include a stable family, school and peer support, open communication with adult mentors or parents about contraception use, free access to contraception, and female empowerment to abstain from unwanted or unplanned intercourse.
“Some of the former factors, among others, may also reduce the risk of youth suicide and self-harm.
“It remains to be determined whether there is additive value in including teenage pregnancy in the prevention of premature mortality among young and middle-aged women.”
