Pregnancy in humans is understood to mean that period in the woman’s life during which she is a carrier of a fertilized egg. The duration of pregnancy is on average 40 weeks.
If the birth takes place between the 28th and 38th week, then we speak of ‘premature birth’. If it occurs even earlier, we speak of immaturity, because the child is then not viable.
Most Dutch couples often tell you in the third month if the woman is pregnant. The nursery is set up months before the birth. Female and male acquaintances will ask when the baby is coming. And the details of the delivery are told fairly accurately, even by the man, even at work: ‘The contractions started at half past nine, the amniotic fluid came at eleven o’clock. She was also clipped in, then I didn’t look for a while.’
In the case of migrants, it is almost always impossible for men to ask about pregnancy, but women can of course ask about it. Moreover, some migrants do not want to defy ‘the evil eye’ . They therefore say nothing about the pregnancy for months and only buy the essentials until the birth. Only after the birth is the nursery furnished and all the clothes bought. This is often seen by natives as irresponsible.
Do you know the text on the birth announcement: ‘mother and child rest between one and three hours’? That must be a Dutch birth certificate. Migrants sometimes read disapprovingly in that text. They mainly read in it that they are not welcome for part of the day.
Early pregnancy is one that occurs in girls and adolescents. From puberty onwards, the process of physical changes begins that make the girl a woman capable of sexual reproduction. This does not mean, however, that the girl is ready to be a mother.
According to several studies, early pregnancy has been increasingly frequent. It is a priority problem for public health due to the high risk of mortality it represents. Babies of teenage mothers, in general, have low birth weight and are often born premature (before their time ).
The age at which girls enter the reproductive phase has changed dramatically in recent decades. Until the year 1900, the first period came at the age of 17, today, however, girls already have their first period at the age of 11 or 12.
Early pregnancy is linked to a certain social situation, which combines a lack of education in matters of reproduction and sexual behavior, a lack of awareness of age and other factors, such as poverty (which forces people to live in conditions of ” stacking”, for example). On many occasions, early pregnancy results from violations.
Also known as teenage pregnancy,” early pregnancy can result in a number of consequences for both mother and baby.
As already said, in this age group the woman is not yet with her body fully developed to carry out a pregnancy. Because of this, there are greater chances of having problems such as miscarriage, early rupture of the water, among others.
Other complications that can occur are anemia, weight loss and also changes in the formation of blood vessels that are in the placenta, due to this, it can happen that the pressure rises (preeclampsia.).
Finally, other problems that can arise as a result of a teenage pregnancy is that the hand develops psychological problems. And that’s because she may not be psychologically prepared. As an example of this we can mention the development of postpartum depression or even during pregnancy. It is not uncommon for mothers who have children in adolescence and put the children up for adoption or they grow up being cared for by the grandmother.
It is common for early pregnancy to be condemned at the social and family level. Pregnant adolescents are seen as “guilty” of an “unwanted” situation, so they tend to be discriminated against and not have the support they need. Therefore, experts insist that the early mother has the support of the family and is accompanied by visits to doctors and treatments.
There is a high percentage of young people who do not know or even ignore the importance of using contraceptive methods. And, in this, there is only an increase in the number of pregnant women at an early stage, but there is also an increase in the number of cases of people with sexually transmitted diseases in adolescents and young people.
In any case , doctors insist that it is essential to work on the prevention of early pregnancies, with awareness campaigns, sex education and the free distribution of contraceptive methods.
List of Acronyms Related to Pregnancy
