Studies have shown that pregnant women do understand and value information of their unborn child. However, those providing health promotion services often focus on medical procedures and health education messages, ignoring the cultural, socio-economic and psychological dimensions that impact on women's health. This research aimed to look at a specific component of health promotion, i.e. health promotion messages shared with pregnant women attending Stellenbosch and Klapmuts Community Health Centre Antenatal Health Promotion Programme and their perceptions of how they apply messages in their daily lives.

Text in Afrikaans / Die politieke struktuur van antieke Egipte en ons eie politieke geskiedenis het meegebring dat aspekte rakende die vrou, vir baie jare oor die hoof gesien was, veral in die literatuur. Met antieke Egipte, waar mans hoofsaaklik verantwoordelik vir die samestelling van geskrewe materiaal was, en in Suid-Afrika waar daar in navorsing meer op onderwerpe wat mans interesseer gefokus was, het daar soveel vrae rakende die vrou onbeantwoord gebly. Die mans kon nie, het nie of wou nie, verslag doen oor wat gedurende swangerskap en baring gebeur het nie. Met behulp van ‘n uitgebreide literatuurstudie (wat bronne uit die geskiedenis, argeologie, antropologie, medisyne, wetenskap, ikonografie, kunste, argitektuur, taalkunde, astronomie, sielkunde, mitologie, tuinbou ensovoorts ingesluit het) is ontdek dat daar, in antieke Egiptiese geskrifte en uitbeeldings, baie oor swangerskap en baring gekommunikeer is. Die inligting is net nie altyd in die konteks of plekke waar ‘n mens dit sou verwag nie. Manlike skrywers het argeologiese inligting vanuit hulle manlike verwysingsraamwerk geïnterpreteer. Die meerderheid inligting oor swangerskap en baring in antieke Egipte, is dus in die verlede òf oor die hoof gesien, òf dit is vanuit ‘n manlike perspektief geïnterpreteer. Belangrike betekenisse het so verlore geraak. Hierdie studie is onderneem om lig op swangerskap en baring in antieke Egipte te werp. ‘n Grondige kennis van die vroulike fisiologie en -denkpatrone is met ‘n uitgebreide studie van die gebruike, tradisies en gelowe van antieke Egipte gekombineer om die bestaande poel van kennis op te helder. / Due to the political structure of ancient Egypt, as well as in our own political history, female matters have been overlooked for many years, especially in literature. With ancient Egypt, where mainly men were responsible for written material, and in South Africa where research, in the past, focused mainly on topics of interest to men, many questions regarding women remained unanswered. Men could not, did not, or didn’t want to report on what happens during pregnancy and birth. The research of extensive literature sources (including historical, archaeological, anthropological, medical, scientific, iconographical, art, architectural, linguistic, astronomical, physiological, mythological, horticultural and other sources) indicates that the ancient Egyptian writings and depictions contained information about pregnancy and birth. In the past most information about pregnancy and birth in ancient Egypt was either overlooked or interpreted from a male perspective. Thus important meanings and interpretations got lost. The aim of this study is to shed light on pregnancy and birth in ancient Egypt. A current thorough knowledge of female physiology and thought patterns was combined with an extensive study of practices, traditions and beliefs in ancient Egypt to elucidate the existing pool of knowledge. / Biblical Archaeology / D. Litt. et Phil. (Biblical Archaeology)

The consequences of the African AIDS epidemic are growing--not just in size--but in complexity. These consequences are no longer just biological; increasingly, they are also social, cultural, economic, and psychological. In this dissertation, I consider one overlooked consequence of the epidemic by asking how HIV infection affects the desire to have children in a context where reproduction is so highly valued. Taking advantage of a unique situation in rural Malawi, where no one knew their HIV status prior to testing being introduced as part of an ongoing longitudinal survey, I use a quasiexperimental design and in‐depth interviews to examine the evidence for an intentional relationship between HIV/AIDS and fertility. Rural Malawians adjust their childbearing desires in response to information about their HIV status. The relationship--both in magnitude and in motivation--is highly gendered. HIV positive women fear that a pregnancy will worsen their disease. Despite this widely shared belief, there remains a lot of ambivalence: women who are positive, or who fear they are positive, want to live normal lives. For some, that means avoiding childbearing as a strategy to delay the symptoms of HIV. For others, it means having children as they would have had despite what they think it might mean for their health. Male fertility preferences are more volatile to information about HIV status. Men see childbearing as futile if they are HIV positive because they anticipate their own death and the death of their future offspring. However, men may be less likely to translate their preferences into action because--after learning they are infected--they are less motivated to stop having children than they are unmotivated to have children. This dissertation shows that rural Malawians adapt their childbearing preferences to information about their HIV status. There are strategies in these adaptations, as well as hope for a future where the conditions of childbearing in an AIDS epidemic might have changed. I conclude by discussing what the findings mean for fertility, fertility theory, and policy. / text

This study explores perceptions and attitudes of boys and girls towards schoolgirl pregnancy at 'Mampota high School in Lesotho. No policy exists in Lesotho concerning school girl pregnancy. While Lesotho espouses democratic rights to all, pregnant schoolgirls continue to be excluded from the school system. In this era this does not only discriminate but also impinges on one of the fundamental rights of girls, the right to education. Pregnant girls continue to drop out of school because of the negative perceptions and attitudes of teachers and other students even in countries where expulsion is outlawed. Although these attitudes reflect myths and stereotypes, they are not illusions. They remain powerful and are a major driving force behind pregnant girls dropouts. They reinforce the stereotypical construction of gender and work to marginalise and disempower young girls. These perceptions and attitudes sentence girls to a life of subservience and reduce their life chances both economically and socially. Focus group interviews and questionnaires were used examine the attitudes of boys and girls towards schoolgirl pregnancy at MHS. The findings suggest that both boys and girls construct gender in ways that discriminate against pregnant schoolgirls, but girls as more prejudiced than boys towards pregnant schoolgirls. A good sign emerging from the study is that not all boys and girls take this position and this points to the possibility of making the school a safer place for pregnant school girls. / Thesis (M.Ed.) - University of KwaZulu-Natal, Durban, 2004.

The purpose of this study was to explore the impact of teenage pregnancy on educators in the rural high schools at Thabo Mofutsanyane district in Eastern Free State. This study aimed to achieve four objectives which were to identify the impact of teenage pregnancy on educators; to identify the challenges that educators face when dealing with pregnant learners; to identify the form of training educators receive in preparing them to deal with teenage pregnancy; and lastly to identify the kind of support educators feel they are being given to help them deal with teenage pregnancy. Participants were eight Life Orientation educators from two high schools and two principals in the respective schools. Participants were identified using a purposive sampling method. Interviews and one focus group were conducted with educators and principals from the two schools. Interviews were tape recorded, transcribed and translated into English where necessary. The collected data was analysed using thematic analysis. The results of the study showed, firstly, that educators face a number of challenges including a lack of training and resources, poverty, lack of parental involvement, as well as a lack of policies and clear guidelines to be used when dealing with pregnant learners. Secondly, it showed that teenage pregnancy tends to have a negative impact on educators because they receive little support in dealing with pregnant learners. Thirdly, it showed that teenage pregnancy tends to have negative impact on educational performance because pregnant learners are distracting to the class and they are distracted themselves. This tends to affect the school’s overall performance which reflects negatively on educators. / Thesis (M.Ed.)-University of KwaZulu-Natal, Pietermaritzburg, 2013.

This qualitative study was conducted at Minenhle High School (pseudonym) in Mgugu, a deep rural area in Umbumbulu, KwaZulu-Natal. It explored the way in which six pregnant young women between ages of 16 and 17 talked about their pregnancies. All the young women emerged from a working class background. The purpose of this study was to investigate why these young women fell pregnant; and the gendered dimensions of pregnancy. Gender-power theory was used to show how male dominance reproduces female submissiveness and influences sexual negotiations and thus increasing vulnerability to unintended pregnancies among young African women. Focus groups and individual interviews were used to produce relevant data for this study. However, the same study finds that some young women see the need to challenge accepted gender norms which often promote and encourage female submissiveness and oppression. Socio-cultural influence emerges whereby these young women have failed to access and use contraceptives due to socially constructed myths regarding the effects of contraceptives and fear of going to the clinic to access contraceptive services since this will reveal to the parents that they (young women) are sexually active; hence viewing sex as secret and clinic as public. The findings of this study also show intergenerational silence on issues of sexuality between these pregnant young women and their parents or caregivers which encourages them to rely on their peers for support, information and advice. This study also found a decline in the value of ukuhlolwa kwezintombi (virginity testing) as a strategy for preserving young women’s virginity, discouraging unintended pregnancies and reducing the rate of HIV infections; due to socio-economic and religious reasons. Findings of this study were used to develop strategies that challenge cultural, gender power imbalances as well as breaking intergenerational silence thus encouraging a healthier and more positive sexuality among young people in Umbumbulu. / M. Ed. University of KwaZulu-Natal, Durban 2013.

Studies have shown that pregnant women do understand and value information of their unborn child. However, those providing health promotion services often focus on medical procedures and health education messages, ignoring the cultural, socio-economic and psychological dimensions that impact on women's health. This research aimed to look at a specific component of health promotion, i.e. health promotion messages shared with pregnant women attending Stellenbosch and Klapmuts Community Health Centre Antenatal Health Promotion Programme and their perceptions of how they apply messages in their daily lives.

published_or_final_version / abstract / Social Work and Social Administration / Doctoral / Doctor of Philosophy

The current study investigated the experiences of unwed adolescent mothers in faith communities, the Roman Catholic Church in particular. The study was motivated by the fact that, despite the Christian sexual ethic, which prohibits sex outside wedlock, many young unmarried women in faith communities do become pregnant. The study thus sought to investigate the lived experiences of these young women, their psychological and social experiences of unwed motherhood in the church community. Factors contributing to teenage pregnancy, sources of social support and possible intervention mechanisms were also explored. A semi-structured interview schedule was developed, and thirteen (13) participants ranging in age from 18-22 years were interviewed individually and in focus groups. The results indicate that unwed teenage mothers in faith communities experience a range of psychological and social experiences, including frustration, feelings of depression, social exclusion and discrimination by fellow church congregants. Stigma theory and stigma consciousness were used to account for these experiences. Peer pressure and gendered power relations were cited among the causes of unwed teenage pregnancy, while payment of damages and re-admission to the community of believers following a confession were cited among the sources of social support. The study concludes that sex education and communication between parents and their teenage girls are essential in dealing with the problem of unwed teenage pregnancy. The study concludes with recommendations for practice and further research. / Thesis (M.A.) - University of KwaZulu-Natal, Pietermaritzburg, 2009.

A study investigating the contraceptive knowledge, attitudes, beliefs and practices of coloured unmarried pregnant teenagers.