Teenage pregnancy is a very important health problem worldwide. When adolescent girls who are often physically and mentally unprepared to have a child become mothers, it has incredibly negative consequences for the mother. Including poor personal outcomes, adolescent mothers often give birth to children with increased health problems compared to healthy adult mothers. Due to the negative consequences associated with teenage pregnancy, this problem should be addressed on a global scale. Teenage mothers tend to experience very negative social consequences after giving birth. It is imperative to educate people around the world about teenage pregnancies and their undesirable consequences so that they can be prevented. Adverse consequences associated with teenage pregnancy can be studied in America. In general, teen birth rates in the United States and around the world are declining. The decline seen in America is due to greater access to and use of contraceptives. This decline may also be attributed to more adolescents abstaining from sexual activity. According to “Facts on American Teens,” in the United States, the percentage of never-married, sexually active women in 1995 was 19%, but by 2008, that percentage had dropped to about 11%. The lower percentage of sexually active women is due to more widespread sex education in American schools. Although teen pregnancy rates in general have declined, America's teen pregnancy rate is the highest of any other developed country. The teen pregnancy rate in the United States is almost twice as high as in Canada, a similar country (“Facts on America Teens,” 2013). Although the adolescent birth rate in the United States is declining, the adverse consequences still affect a large number of adolescent girls in the United States... middle of article ......nt: Pregnancy adolescence and maternal health. Extracted from the Nursing Reference Center database. (Accession No. T708373) Facts about the sexual and reproductive health of American adolescents. (2013, June). Retrieved April 8, 2014, from the Guttmacher Institute website: http://www.guttmacher.org/pubs/FB-ATSRH.html Kirven, J. (January 2014). Preserving their future after teenage pregnancy: strategies to stay in good physical and mental shape. International Journal Of Childbirth Education, 29(1), 57-61. Facts about adolescent sexual and reproductive health in developing countries. (2010, April). Retrieved from the Guttmacher Institute website: http://www.guttmacher.org/pubs/FB-Adolescents-SRH.pdf Fact sheet on the girl effect. (July 9, 2012). Retrieved April 9, 2014, from The Girl Effect website: http://www.girleffect.org/explore/taking-the-girl-effect-to-scale/data-factsheet-2012/