Assessment of Maternal Readiness for Childbirth and Childrearing among Adolescent Mothers in Ghana

In 1995, the Latina adolescent birth rate surpassed that of African Americans for the first time. This article investigates cultural and social factors affecting the initiation of sexual intercourse among Latina adolescent mothers in Los Angeles. The data are from life history interviews with forty young mothers and their partners conducted in 1994 to 1997. Results suggest that sexual intercourse is initiated within the context of the couple's developing relationship, and that the course of relationships is highly scripted. Men pressure for sex and women resist. Women should be ignorant about sex, but control access to intercourse. Sex is never discussed. Thus, it is unexpected, and contraception other than withdrawal is not used. This script places young Latinas at enormous risk for pregnancy and STDs.

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Evidence‐based priorities of under‐served pregnant and parenting adolescents: addressing inequities through a participatory approach to contextualizing evidence syntheses

International Journal for Equity in Health ◽

10.1186/s12939-021-01458-7 ◽

2021 ◽

Vol 20 (1) ◽

Author(s):

Anna Dion ◽

Aime Klevor ◽

Amy Nakajima ◽

Neil Andersson

Keyword(s):

Social Services ◽

Adolescent Mothers ◽

Priority Setting ◽

Service Providers ◽

Post Partum ◽

Perinatal Outcomes ◽

Health Inequities ◽

Participatory Approach ◽

Perinatal Health ◽

Evidence Based

Abstract Purpose This study describes an interdiscursive evidence-based priority setting process with pregnant and parenting adolescents and their services providers. Methods A mixed methods literature review identified studies reporting on perinatal outcomes and experiences of adolescents during pregnancy to 12 months post-partum published in Canada after 2000. We also calculated relative risks for common perinatal risk factors and outcomes for adolescents compared to adult populations from 2012 to 2017 based on data from a provincial database of maternal and newborn outcomes. Two trained peer researchers identified outcomes most relevant to their peers. We shared syntheses results with four service providers and 13 adolescent mothers accessing services at a community service organization, who identified and prioritized their areas of concern. We repeated the process for the identified priority issue and expanded upon it through semi-structured interviews. Results Adolescent mothers face higher rates of poverty, abuse, anxiety and depression than do adult mothers. Adolescents prioritized the experience of judgment in perinatal health and social services, particularly as it contributed to them being identified as a child protection risk. Secondary priorities included loss of social support and inaccessibility of community resources. The experience of judgment in adolescent perinatal health literature was summarized around: being invisible, seen as incapable and seen as a risk. Adolescent mothers adapted these categories, emphasizing organizational and social barriers. Conclusions Young marginalized women are disproportionately affected by inequities in perinatal outcomes, yet their perspectives are rarely centered in efforts to address these inequities. This research addresses health inequities by presenting a robust, transparent and participatory approach to priority setting as a way to better represent the perspectives of those who carry the greatest burden of health inequities in evidence syntheses. In our work, marginalized adolescent parents adapted published literature around the experience and consequences of social stigma on perinatal outcomes, shifting our understanding of root causes and possible solutions.

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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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Gestationalism and the Rights of Adolescent Mothers

Moral Philosophy and Politics ◽

10.1515/mopp-2019-0045 ◽

2020 ◽

Vol 7 (2) ◽

pp. 239-254

Author(s):

Teresa Baron

Keyword(s):

Children And Adolescents ◽

Adolescent Mothers ◽

Adolescent Parents ◽

Moral Rights ◽

Parental Rights ◽

Full Complement ◽

The Right ◽

Newborn Children

AbstractIn this paper, I explore the ways in which consideration of adolescent parents forces us to confront and question common presuppositions about parental rights. In particular, I argue that recognising the right of adolescent mothers not to be forcibly separated from their newborn children justifies rejecting the notion that parental rights are (a) all acquired in the same manner and (b) acquired as a ‘bundle’ of concomitant moral rights. I conclude that children and adolescents who conceive and give birth have some parental rights concerning their newborn children – in particular, the right not to be forcibly separated from those children – even if they do not have the ‘full complement’ of parental rights as we generally characterise these.

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