The number of adolescents who become pregnant each year has, for the past two decades, been a topic of serious concern among international education and health professionals. The Department of Education established a new policy that allows adolescents to pursue their studies during pregnancy. This policy frustrated parents and educators because it interfered with social norms and values. It also puts pregnant adolescents’ lives at risk (Mwamwenda, 1996: 206). The pregnant adolescent finds herself in the midst of a multifaceted crisis situation which is characterised by the emotional and physical reality of pregnancy. She also faces the interruption of normal physiological development, a possible change in educational and career pursuit as well as parental kinship support, an increase in medical risks during pregnancy, and the premature assumption of the adult role with its associated responsibilities. The shock of an unwanted pregnancy can be emotionally traumatic for the adolescent. Some receive emotional support from their close family members, others do not. In the absence of emotional support, the pregnant adolescent may experience increased anxiety and frustration, while others may develop depression. Together with middle-aged childbearing women, adolescents are viewed as a high risk maternity population. Complications such as high blood pressure, toxaemia, anemia and cardiac and other physiological conditions may develop, endangering the life of the adolescent (Bodak & Jensen, 1984: 938) The researcher’s curiosity about adolescent pregnancy was raised when she studied the statistics of adolescent pregnancy between 2000 and 2003, at the local clinic in Duduza. She realised that more adolescents are becoming pregnant every year. She decided to conduct research about adolescent pregnancy. The intention was to explore and describe the experience of adolescents during pregnancy at Duduza Location and to determine guidelines for educators, parents and health workers to support adolescents during pregnancy. She also intended to make recommendations for parents, educators and health workers on how pregnant adolescents can be supported. This research was aimed at describing and exploring the experiences of adolescents during pregnancy. This research was qualitative in nature. The sample was taken from pregnant adolescents in a township. Data gathering methods used in this research were individual interviews and observations. The observation for this study was conducted by the researcher at the local clinic and individual homes. A total of ten interviews were conducted and all of them were transcribed and edited. The participants had to comment on their experiences during pregnancy. These ten interviews formed the basis of this study to facilitate the attainment of the primary objectives which were to explore and describe the experiences of adolescents during pregnancy. The data from these interviews were analysed by using an open coding method. An independent coder did an analysis independent from the researcher. A consensus validation discussion was held with the independent coder on the analyses of the data. The detailed discussion of results obtained from the interviews and observations were presented in verbatim quotes, descriptive and reflective notes and illustration of emergent themes and categories. Rigor and adequacy were ensured by the data collected and the results obtained from the data analysis indicated convergence and saturation. The measures of trustworthiness, that is, credibility, transferability, dependability and confirmability, were applied throughout the study. Ethical considerations were addressed in the assent letters which were presented to the participants. Ethical considerations included the preserving of anonymity, confidentiality, and the ethical role of the researcher that had to be adhered to. The research results indicated that adolescent pregnancy has psychological effects on the adolescent and there is insufficient support from significant others when they find out that the adolescent girl is pregnant. The guidelines for parents, educators and health workers to support adolescents during pregnancy were formulated and recommendations discussed. / Prof. C.P.H. Myburgh

Teenage pregnancy is an important health and social problem in South Africa. Despite declining trends of fertility rates in last two decades, the pregnancy among school girls remains steadily high in South Africa. Teenage pregnancy had negative impacts on various aspects of socio-economic well being of school girls. Aim: To determine the proportion of teenage pregnancy among high school girls and to identify the possible factors that influence teenage pregnancy in Mthatha region during the year 2009. Materials & Methods: This is an observational cross sectional, analytic study of teenage pregnancy conducted among high school teenage girls in the Mthatha region of South Africa. Result: A total of 1150 teenage girls from 15 to 19 years of ages responded from seven high schools in the Mthatha region of South Africa. In total 113 (10%) of teenage high school girls were currently mothers or had previously been pregnant. The proportions of those who had ever been pregnant increased significantly with age. The risk of falling pregnant among public high school teenage girls had two times higher compared to private high school teenage girls. Condoms were the most common method of contraception whereas the oral pills were the least common in practice. About half of teenage girls who had ever been pregnant had an abortion and of this one-third had had a backstreet/illegal abortion. The frequency of substance use was significantly higher among teenage girls who had ever been pregnant. A significant correlation was found between low socio-economic status, public schools and teenage pregnancy in this study. Conclusion: Teenage pregnancy is common among high school girls from 15 to 19 years of age in the Mthatha Region, South Africa. Poor socio-economic family conditions, lack of contraceptive use, early sexual maturation, risky behaviour, lack of knowledge about sexuality and reproductive health, multiple sexual partners and substance use were the common contributing factors of teenage pregnancy.

No description available.

No description available.

No description available.

There has been little scientific evidence to suggest that abstinence-only-until-marriage education programs are effective in preventing or reducing teenage pregnancy and sexually transmitted disease. There is also little scientific evidence to suggest that comprehensive sex education programs are as or more effective in preventing or reducing teenage pregnancy and sexually transmitted disease than their abstinence-only counterpart. The following study compares the teenage pregnancy and sexually transmitted disease rates among minors in Virginia that participate in abstinence-only programs with rates among minors participating in comprehensive sex education programs. I hypothesize that counties implementing comprehensive sex education programs in schools will typically have lower pregnancy and sexually transmitted disease rates among minors than counties implementing abstinence-only education programs. I test these hypotheses with data on the 16 Virginia counties and county equivalents which could be verified as having either comprehensive or abstinence-only sex education programs in public schools during 1998-2003. The data confirm the hypotheses. On average, comprehensive program counties showed greater declines in pregnancy rates among females aged 15-17 than abstinence-only program counties. Comprehensive counties experienced declines in Chlamydia and Gonorrhea rates among males and females aged 15-17, whereas abstinence-only counties' Gonorrhea and Chlamydia rates increased. These findings underscore the need for statewide -- indeed, nationwide -- public reporting of school systems' sex education program types to permit a more thorough comparison and evaluation of program outcomes. In the meantime, these results challenge Virginia advocates of abstinence-only education programs to empirically defend their claims. / Master of Science

A three-day food intake was recorded for 100 elderly patients who were subsequently interviewed to determine the relationship of income level, educational level completed, and sex of the person with the nutrient intakes of these patients. Three-day caloric and nutrient intakes were recorded and compared to the 1974 Recommended Daily Allowances (RDA). Mean intake for a three-day period of seven nutrients showed patient averages met at least 100 percent of the RDA for all nutrients except calcium. The females had a mean intake of ninety-six percent of the RDA for calcium. The patients with the lower incomes had dietary patterns that were less adequate than the patterns for those with higher incomes, and these patients ate more carbohydrate and less protein than did the patients with higher income. Nutrient intake was increased for the patients as their level of education increased. There were no significant differences in the nutrient intakes between sexes. The males had a higher nutrient intake and had a higher percentage of protein in their diets than did the females, however, the differences were slight. It was concluded from the above results that certain beneficial changes in the study menu could be made. Especially important areas such as calcium and fat intake may need modification at some time in the future as more light is shed on these areas. / Master of Science

Thesis (M.A. (Clinical Psychology)) -- University of Limpopo, 2012 / Recent research has established that teenagers have the means to prevent pregnancy but many do not necessarily use them, because they are open to the idea of becoming pregnant, or have a desire to parent their own child. The aim of this study was to investigate whether there is a relationship between attachment and teenagers’ desire of becoming pregnant and parenting a child. The sample of the study, selected through convenience sampling, comprised 455, 14 and 15 year old registered female learners from selected urban and rural high schools in Mopani District, Limpopo Province. Findings from structural equation modeling indicate that both mother and father attachment do not influence teenagers’ idealization about pregnancy and parenting. Mother trust had a statistically significant relationship with attitudes towards pregnancy. Trust for both mother and father also had a significant relationship with parental readiness. Alienation to mother had a significant association with teenagers preparedness to become parents. Socio-economic status was found to be associated with teenagers’ idealization of pregnancy and their report of being physically and emotionally ready to become parents. This study has found a relationship between the Trust and Alienation dimensions of attachment with attitudes towards pregnancy and parental readiness. Key words: Attachment; socio-economic status; pregnancy; idealization; parental readiness / Medical Research Council (MRC)

The study aimed to explore indigenous methods used to prevent teenage pregnancy from the perspective of traditional healers and traditional leaders. Furthermore, it aimed to explore with traditional healers and traditional leaders whether these methods have relevance today as form part of teenage pregnancy intervention. The data were collected through conducting semistructured interviews with ten traditional healers and five traditional leaders from the rural area of Umhlathuzane, Eshowe. The interviews were guided by an interview schedule which allowed the researcher to keep in touch with the purpose of the study while having face to face conversation with participants. All interviews were tape recorded and transcribed. The findings of the study revealed that traditional healers and traditional leaders are concerned by high rate of teenage pregnancy within the community. They felt strongly that ignoring indigenous cultural practices due to modernity has led to major non-resolvable social issues such as teenage pregnancy, spread of HIV/AIDS related diseases, poverty, drugs and alcohol misuse. The study findings also revealed that there is a high demand for re-instituting elders' and family roles in addressing the erosion of cultural practices and traditional methods. Traditional practices such as virginity testing, ukusoma (non-penetrative thigh sex), ukushikila (physical maturity examination) as well as traditional ceremonies were identified as indigenous methods previously used to groom girls and to prevent teenage pregnancy. Furthermore, traditional healers and traditional leader were totally against contemporary teenage pregnancy interventions and policies around this issue, and have mixed views towards the idea of combining modern and traditional methods for teenage pregnancy prevention. Based on the findings of the study, recommendations were made regard to collaboration between South African government and indigenous experts so that to deal effectively with teenage pregnancy. Recommendations for further research were also made. / Thesis (M.A.)-University of KwaZulu-Natal, Durban, 2012.

My interest in teenage pregnancy began when I discovered pregnant girls in my class. Upon discussion with other educators in my school, I discovered that there were many pregnant girls in school. Thus began a journey in which I spent much time researching the topic. What I learnt along the way is that this is not a third world problem that affects certain race groups. It is a universal problem and if it is left to grow it will become the greatest social problem faced by the world. I believe that as educators we need to help curb the problem of teenage pregnancy. More importantly Secondary School educators need to become more aware of the debates surrounding teenage pregnancy for three reasons: (1) many of us may have pregnant or mothering teenagers in our classes and we need to understand where they are coming from and where they are heading towards, (2) we have the potential to help prevent teenage pregnancy by removing the cloak of ignorance that covers the issues surrounding sex and (3) teenage sexuality may be closely linked to the Aids pandemic that is moving like a veld fire across our country. We know that teenage pregnancy is not a new social problem. It has been around for centuries, but of late the severity of the problem has increased. It was this increase in teenage pregnancy that spurred me on to research why the youth of today, who have so much of sexual information made easily available to them, are still falling pregnant while at school. This study attempts to answer two critical questions. Firstly: "How do learners engage with factors that contribute to teenage pregnancy?" My study revealed that learners lack the knowledge or skills to avoid sex, they were ignorant of the different types of contraceptives, they were in denial that they could fall pregnant and they lacked the motivation to avoid early childbearing. Secondly, the critical question, "Why, in context of all the information present today on sex, do teenagers still fall pregnant?" Through the process of research it was found that teenagers engage in premarital sex because of the following reasons: peer pressure, they get caught up in the moment of passion and because they are bored and have nothing better to do. It is hoped that the analysis, findings and recommendations of this study will help curb the problem of teenage pregnancy. / Thesis (M.Ed.) - University of KwaZulu-Natal, Durban, 2005.