1 / Susannah Anderson

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The purpose of this study was to determine if there are differences in birth weight of infants, tobacco use during pregnancy, and Apgar scores of infants between pregnant adolescents who successfully complete a healthy pregnancy curriculum and those who do not and to further examine the adolescent mothers' perceptions of the major concepts included in a healthy pregnancy curriculum. The study involved the collection and analysis of retrospective data to determine differences in birth weight of infants, tobacco use during pregnancy, and Apgar scores of infants. Additionally, a questionnaire, focus group discussions, and follow-up interviews were conducted with former students of the healthy pregnancy curriculum to examine the adolescent mothers' perceptions of the major concepts in the healthy pregnancy curriculum. The participants answered questions regarding how important they thought each major concept is for inclusion in the healthy pregnancy curriculum, how much they learned about each major concept, and how helpful that information was in their own experiences. Analyses of the data did not show statistical differences between adolescents who successfully completed a healthy pregnancy curriculum and those who did not complete a healthy pregnancy curriculum regarding differences in birth weight of infants, tobacco use during pregnancy, and Apgar scores of infants. These findings of non-significance may be due to the small number of participants (n=50), non-participants (n=149), and the limited duration of the study data (1999 to 2003). A larger population over a longer period of time might yield different results. The findings from the qualitative data provided by the seven former students suggest that pregnant adolescents who successfully complete the class perceive the components of the healthy pregnancy curriculum as valuable and important. Topics that were indicated as particularly important were The Birth Process, Nutrition, Decision Making, and Family Planning. Participants further indicated changes in their attitudes for all ten topics and changes in behaviors in the areas of Human Reproduction, Nutrition, Health-Care Practices, Environmental Effects on the Unborn Baby, and Decision Making.