Adolescent pregnancy and loss

Adolescents have a perinatal and infant mortality rate two times as high as that found in the adult population, and yet few have investigated the characteristics of adolescent grief over pregnancy loss. The mourning response of adolescents appears to differ from that of older females: adult signs of depression are either nonexistent or fleeting. Adolescents who are having difficulties moving away from dependence on their mothers may become pregnant in order to demonstrate a semblance of adulthood and also to circumvent the depression common to this phase of development. When reproductive loss occurs, two outcomes often are seen: mother-daughter conflict concerning independence accelerates, which, in turn, provides the impetus for re-impregnation soon afterward. Since pregnancy interferes with mourning, the adolescent may not be able to bond with subsequent children, thus continuing the mother-child conflict into another generation.