The Gamble No One Should Take

Teen pregnancy usually gets the spotlight, but women in their 20s have much greater numbers of unwanted pregnancies. And for Latinas, that raises the stakes.

- Celia Schatzman

Although Latina teenagers still get pregnant at more than two times the rate of non-Hispanic whites—and continue to have the highest rate of unintended pregnancy—the Latina teen birth rate has actually dropped 60 percent since 1991. What’s more, the attention paid to teen baby bumps may be obscuring a larger issue: unplanned pregnancies for women in their 20s. Compared to teenagers, twice as many single women in their 20s have unplanned pregnancies. And two-thirds of teen pregnancies are among 18 and 19-year-olds, not adolescents, according to the National Campaign to Prevent Teen and Unplanned Pregnancy (NCPTUP). Among women in their 20s, some 69 percent of births are unplanned. This can have major consequences for both mothers and children.

“An unintended pregnancy in your 20s has the same effects as teen pregnancy,” says NCPTUP executive Liany Elba Arroyo, who is Puerto Rican. “An unplanned pregnancy makes it take longer to achieve goals. Our community is already starting out later than others, so it has a greater impact on us. We’re doing so great in so many things; if we could plan our pregnancies more effectively, think about how much more we can accomplish.” She adds, “Planning pregnancy is one of the best things you can do for yourself and your child.” Yes, it’s not just the mothers who can be set back: Unplanned babies born to mothers in their 20s are more likely to have a lower birth weight, struggle in school, and have difficulty reaching their goals.