Teenage pregnancy and childbirth is an important adolescent health issue in Australia due to its
association with detrimental physical consequences and long-term negative psychosocial outcomes
for both mother and child. This essay will begin by reviewing some key statistical data relating to
teenage pregnancy and will then explore its association with negative consequences to both family
and the community at large. Additionally, it will examine environmental risk and protective factors
that influence teenage pregnancy. Whilst numerous determinants are highlighted, the paper will
look briefly at two; a child’s home life and access to education. In conclusion, parenting support
and home visits to vulnerable new mothers will be advocated in order to ‘improve the environment
into which they [teenage mothers] rear the next generation