American Journal of Lifestyle Medicine

Abstract: Adolescent births have declined substantially in the past 15 years, especially with the increase in use of effective contraception by young women. Longitudinal data have shown that previously identi-fied disadvantages of early parent-ing for young women, particularly those from communities with high rates of poverty, may not be substan-tial. There are indications that higher order births carry a much greater burden than do first births to females younger than 20 years. For those interested in minimizing the burden for these young women, interventions to prevent second births are impor-tant. Studies have looked at how best to provide care to these women and infants and how to reduce rates of higher order births. These programs provide ideas on factors that can help identify those at greatest risk for sec-ond births and give models for work-ing with young mothers to maximize career and life chances. Particular attention should be paid to con-traception use, infant stimulation, school and work participation, post-partum depression, and breastfeed-ing when working with adolescent mothers