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pubmed:abstractText |
The adolescent mothers consistently experienced great difficulty in realizing their life plans, when compared with their classmates who did not become pregnant premaritally in their early teens. Marital instability, school disruption, economic problems, and difficulty in family size regulation and child-rearing were some of the complications brought on by their premature, unscheduled childbearing.
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pubmed:otherAbstract |
PIP: The findings of a 6-year Baltimore study of 400 adolescent mothers are discussed. Interviews were conducted between 1966-1968 with 404 pregnant adolescents under age 18 who registered at the prenatal clinic of Baltimore's Sinai Hospital and with 350 mothers of the teenagers. 3 subsequent interviews were conducted: 1 year after the child was born, in 1970, and in 1972. 301 classmates of the adolescent mohers were interviewed in 1970, and again in 1972 as a control group. All of the young mothers had started having sexual intercourse by early or midteens; there was a lack of advance commitment to becoming pregnant. Most of the adolescents had some limited knowledge of birth control, but they were most aware of those forms of birth control to which they had least access. 37% of the sample had some experience with condoms. If the mother had counseled her daughter to use a specific method, the girl was more likely to have had some contraceptive experience. 3% of the sample were married at time of conception, but nearly 20% were wed by 1st visit to clinic. If the father held a full-time job marriage was more likely to occur during the prenatal period. A year after the birth of the 1st child 80% hoped to wait 3 years before becoming pregnant again, but only 1/2 realized this goal. Those who returned to school were less likely to experience a 2nd pregnancy in the 12-month period after the birth. 88% of the young mothers practiced contraception during the year after the 1st child was born, but by the 5-year follow-up only 1/5 had used contraception during the entire study. The common reason for terminating use was problems that arose with the method of contraception chosen. Sex education, family planning programs, and abortion counseling and services can be effective preventive measures.
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