Abstract
M.Cur.
Teenage mothers who are pregnant for the first time at particular clinics and
one hospital at the central region of the Northern Province experience lack
of information regarding human reproduction, conception and signs of
pregnancy. Reproductive Health services are poorly utilized. This, coupled
with ignorance often leads to unplanned teenage pregnancies. There is also a
delay in seeking of prenatal health care services, with minimal emotional
and social support for family members, friends and partners. The research
undertaken here were aimed at determining the needs of pregnant teenage
mothers based on their experiences in order to facilitate the provision of
services that will address such needs. The objective was to establish the
experiences of teenage mothers during their first pregnancy and to describe
and formulate guidelines from the information obtained. The research design used in this study was exploratory, descriptive and
qualitative which is contextual in nature. A phenomenological approach was
used. The study population sample was purposively selected at a particular
clinic in the central region of the Northern Province. Fourteen (14) teenage
mothers who are pregnant for the first time were interviewed until saturation
was reached as was reflected in the repeating themes. In-depth unstructured
interviews were conducted. All participants responded to an open-ended
question "Could you please tell me about your experiences of first
pregnancy?" To ensure trustworthiness Lincoln and Guba's model (1985)
was implemented. Data analysis were according to the method Tesch (1990
in Creswell, 1994:155) based on the qualitative approach. A literature
control was performed to verify the results.
Five themes emerged as the experiences of teenage mothers, namely, lack of
information, unplanned pregnancies, ineffective communication, minimal
emotional and social support, and under-utilization of prenatal services.
Guidelines and recommendations are proposed to assist midwives in meeting
the needs of the teenage mothers who are pregnant for the first time.