Peer-reviewed article
Experiences of teenage pregnancy and its consequences on adolescent girls in rural Sindh, Pakistan
Nadia Agha, Rahim Dad Rind ·
Summary
Written by AI, not yet AICS's view · claude-haiku-4-5-20251001This qualitative study examined the experiences of 37 adolescent girls in rural Sindh, Pakistan who became pregnant as teenagers. Most participants were married between ages 15-16 and had little or no formal education. The research found that teenage pregnancy was a challenging experience with significant impacts on the girls' health, social, and psychological wellbeing. The study calls for community-based interventions to increase female education as a way to prevent adolescent motherhood.
Key points
- 54% of participants were aged 19-20 years at the time of interview
- 59% were married at ages 15-16 years
- 43% had received no formal education
- Teenage pregnancy resulted in poor health outcomes for the girls
- Three main themes emerged: challenges, impact, and outcomes of teenage pregnancy
Limitations
This qualitative study describes experiences but does not quantify the specific health or psychological outcomes or compare outcomes across groups. The findings are based on retrospective accounts from girls in a specific region of Pakistan and may not be generalizable to other contexts.
Abstract
OBJECTIVE: To explore the challenges of teenage pregnancy experienced by adolescent girls, and its impact on their social and psychological wellbeing. METHODS: The qualitative study was conducted from August 5 to September 17, 2023, in different villages in northern Sindh after approval from the institutional ethical review board of Shah Abdul Latif University, Khairpur, Pakistan. Data was collected through semi-structured interviews with the subjects who had experienced teenage pregnancy in the preceding 2 years. Data was transcribed verbatim and analysed thematically. RESULTS: Of the 37 subjects, 20(54%) were aged 19-20 years. The age at the time of marriage was 15-16 years in 22(59%) cases, and 16(43%) had received no formal education. Challenges, impact and outcome of teenage pregnancy were the 3 main themes identified on the basis of the collected data, indicating that it was a challenging experience for adolescent girls resulting in poor health outcomes. CONCLUSIONS: Community-based interventions are needed to promote female education that may put an end to adolescent motherhood.