Can a 15-Year-Old Deliver a Baby?

Just like any pregnant person, a teenager needs a prenatal visit, where the doctor will discuss: 

• Scheduling prenatal visits 
• Bodily changes to expect 
• How to cope with uncomfortable side effects of pregnancy, such as nausea and vomiting
• Prenatal classes

Lifestyle changes a teen will have to make for the health of the baby, include:

• Not smoking
• Avoiding alcohol and drugs
• Not ingesting more than 200 mg per day of caffeine (the amount in a 12-ounce cup of coffee)
• Eating a healthy diet
  • Proteins (such as from lean meat, fish, poultry, egg whites, beans, peanut butter, tofu)
  • Calcium (such as from milk and other dairy products)
  • Iron (such as from spinach, lean red meats, iron-fortified cereals)
  • Folic acid (such as from green leafy vegetables, beans, peas, fortified cereals)
  • Drinking plenty of water 
• Getting enough rest
• Avoiding risky sexual behaviors (such as having unsafe sex)
• Exercise
• Stress management

Practical issues need to be considered when a teenager becomes pregnant. A social worker or counselor can help families and pregnant teens address these issues.

• Will the teen keep the baby or consider adoption? 
• If the baby is kept, will the teen raise the baby herself? 
• Will the father be involved in the baby's life? 
• Will the teen continue to go to school? 
• Who will be financially responsible for the baby?
• Questions for the parents of the teen
  • How much support - financial and otherwise — are parents willing and able to offer? 
  • Will the teen and newborn live with the parents? 
  • Will the parents help pay for food, clothing, doctor visits, and necessary items like a car seat and stroller? 
  • Can the parents assist with childcare while the teen is at school and/or work? 

When possible, it's best for pregnant teenagers to finish school so they can get better jobs and create better lives for themselves and their babies in the future. Pregnancy and birth are significant contributors to high school dropout rates among teen girls. Between 60% to 70% of all pregnant teens drop out of school, and children of teenage mothers are more likely to have lower school achievement and drop out of high school, have more health problems, be incarcerated at some time during adolescence, give birth as a teenager, and face unemployment as a young adult as well.

If parents can offer the support needed for the teenager to stay in school, it is helpful. There may be school and community programs that offer special services for teen mothers, such as childcare, transportation, or tutoring.