African American Single Mothers Thriving Despite Society's Obstacles

There are myriad reasons why one may be a single mother. From the woman who chose to pursue a career first and in vitro fertilization at an older age, the widow, a divorcee, one who chose to adopt a child alone, someone serving as a foster parent due to their inability to conceive, to the teenage mother. Regardless of the circumstance, society often places a stigma on a single mother without knowing her full story. This is especially true for African American single mothers. This chapter will explore anecdotal experiences of various African American single mothers. It will tap into the circumstances of how the journey began and how these single mothers have navigated their circumstances to defy the odds to attain success.

Associations between clusters of early life risk factors and developmental vulnerability at age 5: a retrospective cohort study using population-wide linkage of administrative data in Tasmania, Australia

ObjectiveEarly childhood is a critical time to address risk factors associated with developmental vulnerability. This study investigated the associations between clusters of early life risk factors and developmental vulnerability in children’s first year of full-time school at age 5.DesignA retrospective cohort study.SettingPopulation-wide linkage of administrative data records for children born in Tasmania, Australia in 2008–2010.ParticipantsThe cohort comprised 5440 children born in Tasmania in 2008–2010, with a Tasmanian 2015 Australian Early Development Census (AEDC) record and a Tasmanian Perinatal Collection record.Outcome measureThe AEDC is a national measure of child development across five domains: physical health and well-being, social competence, emotional maturity, language and cognitive skills (school-based), and communication skills and general knowledge. Children who scored below the 10th percentile on one or more AEDC domains were classified as developmentally vulnerable. Children with special needs are not included in the AEDC results.ResultsLatent class analysis identified five clusters of risk factors: low risks (65% of children), sociodemographic and health behaviour risks (24%), teenage mother and sociodemographic risks (6%), birth risks (3%), and birth, sociodemographic and health behaviour risks (2%). In this sample population, 20% of children were classified as developmentally vulnerable, but the proportion varied substantially by latent class. Logistic regression showed increased odds of developmental vulnerability associated with sociodemographic and health behaviour risks (OR 2.26, 95% CI 1.91 to 2.68, p<0.001), teenage mother and sociodemographic risks (OR 2.01, 95% CI 1.50 to 2.69, p<0.001), and birth, sociodemographic and health behaviour risks (OR 3.29, 95% CI 2.10 to 5.16. p<0.001), but not birth risks (OR 1.34, 95% CI 0.88 to 2.03, p=0.1649), relative to the reference group.ConclusionsThe patterning of risks across the five groups invites consideration of multisectoral policies and services to address complex clusters of risk factors associated with developmental vulnerability.

Adolescent pregnancy termination and childbearing – the impact of an older sister’s pregnancy outcome

ABSTRACTBackgroundAn older sister's teenage pregnancy status is known to influence whether or not a younger sister also has a teenage pregnancy. This study examines whether a younger sister’s odds of teenage pregnancy are impacted by her older sister’s teenage pregnancy status (no pregnancy, teenage mother, termination), and if she does become pregnant, if the older sister’s teenage pregnancy status impacts her odds of terminating that pregnancy. MethodsA birth cohort created with the linkable administrative databases housed at the Manitoba Centre for Health Policy (MCHP) is used to examine these questions. The cohort consisted of 17,169 teenage girls born in Manitoba between April 1, 1979 and March 31, 1994, who stayed in the province until at least their 20th birthday, had at least one older sister, and were not missing values on any key variables. Logistic regression models, controlling for a variety of confounders, are used to examine the relationship between sisters’ teenage pregnancy outcomes. First, the relationship between an older sister’s teenage pregnancy status (no teenage pregnancy, terminated teenage pregnancy, and teenage mother) and a younger sister’s teenage pregnancy is examined. Second, for those who had a teenage pregnancy, the likelihood of her terminating that pregnancy is examined based on her older sister’s teenage pregnancy status.ResultsTeenagers whose older sister had been a teenage mother (OR = 3.2; 95% CI 2.8-36) and those whose older sister terminated her teenage pregnancy (OR= 2.6; 95% CI 2.2-3.0) had significantly higher odds of having a teenage pregnancy than those whose older sister did not have a teenage pregnancy. For those who did have a teenage pregnancy, termination of that pregnancy was more likely if she had an older sister who terminated her teenage pregnancy (OR = 2.7; 95% CI 1.9-3.7) or did not have a teenage pregnancy (OR = 1.8; 95% CI 1.3-2.4) than if her older sister was a teenage mother.ConclusionAn older sister's teenage pregnancy outcome has a significant impact on whether or not a younger sister becomes pregnant and whether she terminates her teenage pregnancy. Younger sisters are most likely to become pregnant if their older sisters had been teenage mothers; these girls were also least likely to terminate their teenage pregnancy.

Postpartum Contraception in Indonesian Teenager

<p><strong>Background : </strong>Teenage pregnancy is a worldwide problem bearing serious social and medical implications relating to maternal and child health. Postpartum contraception in Indonesia teenager still being controversy issue in Indonesia, some opinion said contraception using in teenager will increase risk of sexual transmitted disease and against sociocultural. However, contraception is still important to prevent another unintended pregnancies. We aimed to evaluate the postpartum contraception preferences of teenagers.</p><p><strong>Methods : </strong>This is a cross sectional study performed over a period of 2 Years (January 1, 2013 to December 31, 2014) in Dr. Cipto Mangunkusumo Hospital as tertiary center and teaching hospital in Indonesia, 350 randomly selected teenage mothers (aged 12-19) were compared with 350 randomly adult primigravida mothers (20-39 years). Variables of interest were the demographic characteristics of the women, their obstetric complications and the outcome compare with contraception preferences.</p><p><strong>Results :</strong> There were a total of 5449 deliveries during the study period, out which 372 (6.8%) were teenagers. In teenage group, the mean of age was 17,3 years old, most of the teenage mother latest education were junior high school (78,3%), unemployed (55,1%), married &lt; 6 month (40,8%), unintended pregnancy (56,6%), labor husband occupation (56%). The most commonly used postpartum contraceptive method was IUD (78,9%), DMPA injection (10%), implant (0,3%), and some of adolescent mothers did not use contraception (10,9%). There is significantly different contraception preferences between teenage mothers and adult primigravida mothers (p=0.009). Post partum contraception preferences in teenage mothers were significantly correlate with mother occupation (p=0.002), marital status (p=0.000), marriage age (p=0.000), unintended pregnancy (p=0.004), husband occupation (p=0.000), complications during pregnancy and delivery (p=0.000), gestational age (p=0.000), and babies birth weight (p=0.000). Teenage mother were given information about contraception by doctor after she came at delivery room. The doctor offered several postpartum contraception that can be used after delivery. Teenagers select a contraceptive method with consider the benefits and risks.</p><p><strong>Conclusion</strong> <strong>:</strong> Providing adequate postpartum contraceptive education is therefore important for teenage mother.</p>