Planned adolescent pregnancy: themes related to the pregnancy

Abstract

Health-care providers need to recognize that not all adolescent pregnancies occur as a result of error. A small subset of adolescents intentionally plan their pregnancy. The purpose of this phenomenological study was to describe the experiences of 14- to 17-year-old pregnant females who had planned their pregnancies. Participants were recruited from one prenatal clinic at a large tertiary medical center in the eastern region of the United States. Three themes emerged from participant interviews that were related to the adolescents' pregnancies. Themes included living environment issues, adjustment to the pregnancy, and an increased motivation to do well in school and work to provide a good life for their infants. Understanding the phenomena of planned adolescent pregnancy can provide a basis for health-care providers to provide support to adolescent females in this life transition. Understanding the common experience of these adolescents can assist health-care providers to develop individualized interventions to best meet these young women's needs and to improve birth outcomes among this population.