Effects of Pregnancy on Teenage Women at Lam-Sonthi, Lopburi Province

Abstract

     The mixed method approach was used to describe the effects of pregnancy on teenage women at LamSonthi district, Lopburi province. The research sample was 14 pregnant women gave birth between October 1, 2018 and September 30, 2019. The research instruments were a set of questionnaires with the reliability of 0.85 and the semi-structured interview questions. The descriptive statistics and the Chi-square test were used to explain and test the variables. Content analysis was performed on the qualitative data.

     The results revealed that the participants were pregnant adolescents aged 15-20 years. Most of them graduated with highest education of the elementary school (50%) without job (42.9%) and received the expense from their partners (57.1%). The teenagers were first pregnant with no complication and no abortion history. Before being pregnant, they lived with their family, were informed about sex education (92.9%), and unintended to have a child using at least one type of birth controls. The reason of accidental pregnancy were contraceptive mistaking and pregnant unexpected. However, they known to be pregnant in two months and had the antenatal care at the age of two months of pregnancy.

     Teenage women take a good care of themselves during pregnancy (57.1%) and low level of mental effects (71.4%). Most of them had a normal delivery (92.9%) at 38 weeks of pregnancy (35.7%) with the good condition of newborn children (92.9%) the birth weight of 2,500-2,999 grams(35.7%) and 3,000-3,400 grams (35.7%).

     Pregnant teenage women interview explained that the effects of pregnancy were the stress, worrying, and different problem solving ways including resigning from the school, quitting the job, no income, and the burden on family in taking care of them after giving birth. Their own families have to take the responsibility on taking care of the newborn baby and all the expense.