23^rd World Nursing and Healthcare Conference

Biography

Biography: Panitsara Leekuan

Abstract

Adolescent pregnancy has been progressively acknowledged in nursing, medical and psychological literatures as a vital division of holistic care. Pregnant adolescents face significant health risks from pregnancy, which affect both mothers and their babies, with subsequent implications for maternal mortality and morbidity. Pregnancy in adolescence and its holistic dimensions remain under-researched, particularly for developing countries. This evidence and the particular phenomenon of adolescent maternities in Thailand led to my personal interest in this range. This study therefore aims to improve understanding and interpretation of pregnant adolescents’ perspectives associated with first-time pregnancy experiences in Northern Thailand. A qualitative study was conducted using a hermeneutic phenomenological approach to explore the experience of pregnant adolescents, aged between 15 and 19 years, and recruited using a purposive sampling technique from three hospitals in Northern Thailand. Data was collected using in-depth interviews. A modified interpretive phenomenological of 30 interviews was undertaken to incorporate translation into English using a cross-cultural translation technique. Three themes emerged from adolescent participants’ interpretation of their experiences of pregnancy: a result of their ‘ignorance’; however, ‘family’s relationship’ was strengthened while their experience made them understand ‘the state of being pregnant’ These findings offer valuable insights into the significance of pregnancy for pregnant adolescents and have implications for health providers, educators and policy makers’ encounters with adolescents during pregnancy to move beyond biomedical care, identifying the need for support mechanisms and strategies offering guidance from multiple sources of support.