'16 and Pregnant' recap: Scare tactics

Image Credit: MTVLike many of you have been saying over the past few weeks, 16 and Pregnant is the perfect form of sex education for teens. Of all the episodes, last night’s is an absolutely perfect one to screen for high school health classes for one reason only: the awful, cringe-worthy birth scene.

But before we get to that, a little about the episode. The teen couple featured in this episode was Samantha and her one-year-older boyfriend Eric. Compared to the other couples we’ve seen on the series (and the ones we saw in the preview for next week’s episode), the pair was relatively well-adjusted and treated each other decently. Their relationship seemed to have only minor issues compared to the strained relations between the teens’ parents — in fact, most of the first half was dedicated to explaining the ongoing feud between the teens’ mothers.

Eric’s mom used to help the children sneak around and secretly date after Samantha’s parents forbid it — they did so after learning the teens were having sex. Samantha’s mom, who was a teen parent herself, resented the actions taken by Eric’s mom and held a grudge. It was hard not to side with Samantha’s mom on the issue. Considering the pair’s relationship resulted in an unplanned pregnancy, Samantha’s parents were right to worry. Luckily, the parents were able to put their differences aside before the baby was born, with Eric’s mom eventually admitting her lapse in judgment. But that was not the end of the teen couple’s troubles.

Once Samantha hit hour 21 of labor, you knew it wasn’t going to be like some of the others we’ve seen on the show, where the girls hardly break a sweat. No one — especially Samantha, I imagine — could have predicted the excruciating pain that was in store. The baby flipped during her induced labor, and its head was pushing against her back, causing her to scream. Moreover, her body did not respond to the labor-inducing drugs as expected. (Warning: A little bit TMI coming up…) So while Samantha was experiencing contractions like she was in labor, she was only dilated to a little over 2 centimeters – you need 10 to start pushing the baby out. The screams that came from the petite teen were enough to make me turn away in horror. She ended up having a C-section and giving birth to a 7-pound, 8-ounce girl named Jordynn.

Now for this week’s talking points: Did Eric’s mom do the right thing by putting her son’s happiness in front of Samantha’s parents’ wishes (she claims she couldn’t stand seeing her son cry and be depressed after not being allowed to see Samantha)? Is Samantha’s birth scene the 16 and Pregnant moment that should be shown to high schoolers? And (least important) were you as horrified as I was by Samantha’s family’s pink Christmas tree? Answer below.