Repeat Adolescent Pregnancy From The Perspective Of The Pregnant Teen

Despite the continuing high number o f repeat pregnancies to teens and the negative consequences o f a second birth, the American health care system continues to focus pregnancy prevention efforts on never-pregnant teens through a message o f abstinence. While abstinence is an important component o f pregnancy-prevention efforts, this approach does not address the needs o f teens who are already mothers. The purpose o f this descriptive, qualitative study was to explore the phenomenon o f repeat adolescent pregnancy from the perspective o f the teen mother pregnant with a second child. The following research question guided the study: What do adolescent girls think and feel about their second pregnancy? A sample o f 5 adolescent mothers pregnant with a second child participated in semi-structured interviews. The convenience sample was drawn from teen mothers living in a southern state who received prenatal care at a health clinic established to provide services to Medicaid recipients. The researcher transcribed the interviews in their entirety and analyzed the resultant texts using content analysis. One unifying theme emerged from the data. The recurring theme that best described the participants’ experience o f a repeat adolescent pregnancy was resilience. The unifying theme o f resilience was complemented by 3 identified categories o f discourse: community, affirmation o f motherhood, and sense o f responsibility. The results o f this study confirmed the importance o f comprehensive pregnancy prevention programs geared to the needs o f adolescents who are already mothers. Programs must provide information and support for effective contraception, parenting classes that reinforce the positive attitudes o f young mothers toward their children, and encouragement for the mothers to pursue educational and career goals