Silence as Self-care: Pregnant Adolescents and Adolescent Mothers Concealing Paternity in Mahama Refugee Camp, Rwanda

Sexuality & Culture ◽

10.1007/s12119-021-09928-4 ◽

2021 ◽

Author(s):

Yvette Ruzibiza

Keyword(s):

Single Mothers ◽

Adolescent Mothers ◽

Self Care ◽

Refugee Camp ◽

Humanitarian Assistance ◽

Ethnographic Research ◽

Criminal Offence ◽

Pregnant Adolescents ◽

Legal Structures ◽

Adolescent Pregnancies

AbstractIn Rwanda, sexual activity with and among adolescents under the age of 18 is a criminal offence. This is justified to reduce abuse and adolescent pregnancies. Despite this, the Burundian Mahama refugee camp in Rwanda is registering an escalating pregnancy rate among girls 13 to 15 years old. Drawing on ethnographic research conducted from December 2017 to April 2018, this paper shows how pregnant adolescents and adolescent mothers navigate punitive legal structures to protect their baby’s father by concealing his identity. In a challenging socioeconomic context with limited opportunities, silence provides pregnant adolescents and adolescent mothers with a strategy to protect their boyfriends from jail and to access humanitarian assistance available to single mothers. I suggest that silence can be a self-care strategy to negotiate and navigate temporalities as they seek to manage the circumstances in which they find themselves, whilst hoping for a better future for themselves and their children.

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L'humanitaire comme producteur de territoire. L'exemple du camp de Nkondo ouvert aux réfugiés angolais en R.D.C. (Humanitarian assistance as a mean of implementing a territory. The example of the angolan refugee camp of Nkondo in D.R.C.)

Bulletin de l Association de géographes français ◽

10.3406/bagf.2006.2492 ◽

2006 ◽

Vol 83 (1) ◽

pp. 39-49

Author(s):

Virginie Tallio

Keyword(s):

Refugee Camp ◽

Humanitarian Assistance

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The hidden burden of adolescent pregnancies in rural Sri Lanka; findings of the Rajarata Pregnancy Cohort

BMC Pregnancy and Childbirth ◽

10.1186/s12884-021-03977-1 ◽

2021 ◽

Vol 21 (1) ◽

Author(s):

Thilini Chanchala Agampodi ◽

Nuwan Darshana Wickramasinghe ◽

Hemali Gayathri Jayakodi ◽

Gayani Shashikala Amarasinghe ◽

Janith Niwanthaka Warnasekara ◽

...

Keyword(s):

Mental Health ◽

Sri Lanka ◽

Pregnant Women ◽

Adolescent Mothers ◽

Depression Scale ◽

Ultra Sound ◽

Physical And Mental Health ◽

Pregnancy Cohort ◽

Contraceptive Usage ◽

Adolescent Pregnancies

Abstract Background Adolescent fertility is a main indicator of the Sustainable Developmental Goal (SGD) three. Although Sri Lanka is exemplary in maternal health, the utilization of Sexual and Reproductive Health services (SRH) by adolescents is less documented. We describe the hidden burden, associated biological and psychosocial factors and utilization patterns of pre-conceptional services among pregnant adolescents in rural Sri Lanka. Methods The study is based on the baseline assessment of the Rajarata Pregnancy Cohort (RaPCo) in Anuradhapura. Pregnant women newly registered from July to September 2019 were recruited to the study. The period of gestation was confirmed during the second follow-up visit (around 25–28 weeks of gestation) using ultra sound scan data. A history, clinical examination, anthropometric measurements, blood investigations were conducted. Mental health status was assessed using the Edinburgh Postpartum Depression Scale (EPDS). Results Baseline data on gestation was completed by 3,367 pregnant women. Of them, 254 (7.5%) were adolescent pregnancies. Among the primigravida mothers (n = 1037), 22.4% (n = 233) were adolescent pregnancies. Maternal and paternal low education level, being unmarried, and less time since marriage were statistically significant factors associated with adolescent pregnancies (p < 0.05). Contraceptive usage before pregnancy, utilization of pre-conceptional health care services, planning pregnancy and consuming folic acid was significantly low among adolescents (p < 0.001). They also had low body mass index (p < 0.001) and low hemoglobin levels (p = 0.03). Adolescent mothers were less happy of being pregnant (p = 0.006) and had significantly higher levels of anxiety (p = 0.009). Conclusion One fifth of women in their first pregnancy in this study population are adolescents. Nulli-parous adolescents exert poor social stability and compromised physical and mental health effects. The underutilization and/or unavailability of SRH services is clearly associated with adolescent pregnancies.

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A reterospective study of maternal and fetal outcome of adolescent pregnancy in Kawthaung province, Myanmar

Bangladesh Journal of Medical Science ◽

10.3329/bjms.v16i4.33608 ◽

2017 ◽

Vol 16 (4) ◽

pp. 535-540 ◽

Cited By ~ 1

Author(s):

Soe Htet Aung

Keyword(s):

Adolescent Mothers ◽

Public Awareness ◽

Medical Science ◽

Fetal Outcome ◽

Military Hospital ◽

Gestational Period ◽

Maternal And Neonatal Outcomes ◽

The Mean ◽

Adolescent Pregnancies ◽

Retrospective Comparative Study

Objectives : To study maternal and neonatal outcomes of adolescent pregnancies (< 19 years) and to compare the outcomes with pregnant women between 20-34 years.Materials and Methods: This retrospective comparative study was performed in No. (13), Military Hospital (100) Bedded from 1stNovember 2014 to 31st October 2015. The case records of all adolescent mothers who delivered in hospital were retrieved. The major complications and the outcome were compared between adolescent mothers and adults mothers (20 -34 years) who delivered in the same period.Results: During the study period there were 262 deliveries in our hospital, of which 64 (24.4%) were teenage mothers. The mean age of the adolescent mothers was 18.01 (±0.95) and mean gestational period of adolescent mothers was 37.8 weeks (±1.23), comparing to mean age of adult pregnancy was 27.45 (±3.8) and the gestational period was 38.7 weeks (±0.95), Adolescent mothers were significantly higher in inadequate AN visits (18.3% vs. 11.4%), Serology Positive at AN visit (16.7 % vs. 6.4 %), anemia (23% vs. 7.8%), PROM (26.7% vs. 15.1%), eclampsia (15% vs. 6.6%), emergency CS (31.7% vs. 18.7%), poor Apgar score (10% vs. 3 %) and low birth babies (11.6% vs. 3%).Conclusions: Pregnant teenagers are definitely at greater risk, requiring more attention and effective antenatal care for prevention and treatment of anemia, prematurity, IUGR and LBW. To prevent the adverse outcome, steps should be taken to avoid teenage pregnancies by creating public awareness and health education about reproductive health in Kawthaung province.Bangladesh Journal of Medical Science Vol.16(4) 2017 p.535-540

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A Comparison of Self-Reported Self-Care Practices of Pregnant Adolescents

The Nurse Practitioner ◽

10.1097/00006205-199309000-00007 ◽

1993 ◽

Vol 18 (9) ◽

pp. 25-32 ◽

Cited By ~ 2

Author(s):

Sally Hughes Lee ◽

Laurie M. Grubbs

Keyword(s):

Self Care ◽

Pregnant Adolescents ◽

Care Practices

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Huddled Masses

Boy on the Bridge ◽

10.5810/kentucky/9780813178028.003.0014 ◽

2019 ◽

pp. 169-189

Author(s):

Andrew Marble

Keyword(s):

Humanitarian Intervention ◽

Refugee Camp ◽

Premature Baby ◽

Humanitarian Assistance ◽

Baby Girl ◽

Modus Operandi ◽

Humanitarian Mission ◽

Military Community ◽

The Military ◽

Inherent Part

The chapter is set on April 19, 1991, during Lieutenant General John Shalikashvili’s very first inspection of a mountain refugee camp (Isikveren). The chapter demonstrates the absolute misery of life in the camps and outlines the suffering and looming potential for massive death. It reviews the progress the international humanitarian mission has accomplished so far and the upcoming shift in mission goal from “humanitarian assistance” to “humanitarian intervention,” which means Shalikashvili now faces the herculean task of moving all 500,000+ Kurds out of the mountains. Seeing the misery in the camp, Shalikashvili recalls his own suffering when he’d lost people he loved, particularly his loss, within weeks of each other, of both his premature baby girl and his cancer-stricken wife. It explains how all these blows—these “betrayals” by people he loved—are what helped push him to make the military his closest family, to make caring for and even loving the military community an inherent part of his leadership modus operandi.

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Adolescents’ Experiences of Smoking and Their Transitions to Motherhood

Youth & Society ◽

10.1177/0044118x17720367 ◽

2017 ◽

Vol 51 (8) ◽

pp. 1054-1080

Author(s):

Colleen MacQuarrie ◽

Janet Bryanton ◽

Lorraine Greaves ◽

Rosemary Herbert ◽

Philip Smith ◽

...

Keyword(s):

Adolescent Mothers ◽

Ecological Model ◽

Social Ecological Model ◽

Participatory Action ◽

Pregnant Adolescents ◽

Life Trajectories ◽

A Value ◽

Social Ecological ◽

The Social ◽

Gender Based

Our longitudinal, qualitative study with 29 pregnant adolescents who smoke used a Participatory Action Research (PAR) approach to understand experiences and the function of tobacco through pregnancy to 6 months postpartum. The young women described complex lives of overlapping oppressions interspersed with expressions of resistance; these were lived experiences on the threshold of both adulthood and an anticipated better life. Our research implicated tobacco use as a value laden action at the border of oppression and resistance. Thinking about tobacco as a component of and a flag for oppression, we combined a gender based focus with the social ecological model to create a rich understanding of the opportunities for designing equitable interventions that address a range of interconnected influences on an adolescent mother’s health. Opportunities for interventions open briefly in the space between the early idealism displayed by adolescent mothers and the impinging potential reality of oppressive life trajectories.

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Effects of a Prenatal Care Intervention for Adolescent Mothers on Birth Weight, Repeat Pregnancy, and Educational Outcomes at One Year Postpartum

The Journal of Perinatal Education ◽

10.1624/105812402x88588 ◽

2002 ◽

Vol 11 (1) ◽

pp. 35-38 ◽

Cited By ~ 27

Author(s):

Kathleen Ford ◽

Linda Weglicki ◽

Trace Kershaw ◽

Cheryl Schram ◽

Paulette J. Hoyer ◽

...

Keyword(s):

Birth Weight ◽

Prenatal Care ◽

Low Birth Weight ◽

Adolescent Mothers ◽

Unplanned Pregnancy ◽

Care Program ◽

Control Group ◽

Pregnant Adolescents ◽

One Year ◽

Experimental Group

About one-third of adolescent mothers receive inadequate prenatal care, and babies born to young mothers are more likely to be of low birth weight. The objective of this study is to evaluate a peer-centered prenatal care program for adolescent mothers. Pregnant adolescents were randomly assigned to an experimental or control group in a mastery modeling peer-support intervention designed to improve long- and short-term perinatal outcomes. A sample of 282 urban pregnant adolescents (94% African American, 4% Caucasian, 2% other) participated in the study. Participants were recruited from five clinics located mainly in Detroit, Michigan. Participants in the experimental group received care in a small group setting and learned to perform critical measurements with a peer partner during prenatal visits. Participants in the control group received individual prenatal care in the same clinics. Outcome measures included birth weight, years of schooling completed at one year postpartum, planned and unplanned pregnancy at one year postpartum, and employment and school attendance at one year postpartum. Mothers in the experimental group had a lower rate of low birth weight (6.6% vs. 12.5%, p=0.08). The rate of unplanned pregnancy was also lower for adolescents in the experimental group (13.4% vs. 15.9%), although this difference was not statistically significant. Adolescents who participated in the intervention were more likely to have continued their education during the pregnancy and the postpartum year. The mastery modeling, peer-centered, prenatal care program produced some positive pregnancy outcomes for adolescent mothers.

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