Teenage pregnancy and negative outcomes: with special reference to elapatha medical officer of health (moh) area in rathnapura district

Abstract

This study focuses on sociological study on the teenage pregnancy and its negative consequences in Sri Lanka. There are various reasons are directly influenced to the teenage pregnancy. It is a threat to the mother, child and the society. Field setting of this study was Elapatha Medical Officer of Health area in the Rathnapura District. Purposive sampling was used for this study taking 30 teenage mothers as the sample. Interviews, Case studies and key informant interviews were used as the primary data and books, research papers, reports were used as the secondary data. The main objective of this study was identifying the teenage pregnancy and its negative consequences and identify the causes of the teenage pregnancy, recognize the teenage pregnancy as a social problem in the society were the specific objectives of this study. Consideration of background details of the respondents of this study majority of teenage mothers were in eighteen years old and some mothers were still unmarried but they were getting ready for delivering a baby. 97% of teen mothers were Sinhalese, 3% Tamil and majority of them were house wives and engaging with tea plucking. Majority of teenage mother’s first sexual intercourse happened at the age seventeen years. Parental wish, rape, love affair, early marriage, poor educations were the socio; economic factors directly influence to be teen age mothers. This study identified several negative consequences. It was categorized in two ways as the social consequences and health consequences. Early motherhood, drop out rates from education, low qualification, unemployment and low paid salary, live in poor housing facilities on welfare, child grow up without father, suicidal attempt, addiction to drug and alcohol of the father were consequences and death of the mothers in a delivery, abortion, mental and physical risk, depression, low birth weight of pre mature birth, poor nutrition of the mother and child, anemia, were found as the health consequences of this study. And teenage mothers have not balance of domestic works and their marriage life because of the young age. Teenage pregnancy created social problems and these problems are directly and indirectly influence to whole society.