I'm currently doing an OB rotation and subsequent care plan. To give you a little background, my patient was a teenage mother, single, 11th grade education, no prenatal care but had an extremely suportive extended family network.
Two things in caring for this patient really stood out to me. Number 1, her cultural behavior was very inconsistent with the literatures' description of what was supposed to be the "norm" for her - "White Mainstream American." Rather, she displayed more of a mulitcultural make-up - more familial in nature and nonlinear in its approach. This is a growing phenomena I think we'll see more of as globalization continues. Number 2, developmental role achievement (this kind of goes back to linear vs. nonlinear approach to goal attainment/time orientation).
In my search for info. re. adolescent pregnancy, culture and nursing I ran across an article in Academic Search Premier Nurses' Attitudes and Childbearing Adolescents: Bridging the Cultural Chasm. And I'm sorry, I'd post the link to the article here if I knew how...:doh: Anyway, it was saying that sometimes early pregnancy can actually cause an acceleration in the development of the mothers b/c of all the responsiblity that goes along with it, etc. and that our view of almost universal delay is really based more on assumption than actual "rigorous inquiry and/or scientific evidence."
As I am exploring this issue I would LOVE to hear others' points of view/experiences! I've wrote a few questions below as ideas, if anyone would like to share. :kiss
Were you a teenage mom? Was your mom a teenage mom? Was your daughter a teenage mom? Sister, Aunt, Friend, etc.
What was it like for you? Them?
Were you/they socially isolated from your/their peers?
Were you/they stigmatized (sp???) and did you/they feel stigmatized when dealing with healthcare professionals?
Did this cause a serious delay in your/their developmental role achievements: becoming an adult with a formed identity, social status, financial status, etc. Or did you/they overcome this challenge and succeed?
What have been your experiences as a nurse dealing with this population? And what are some of the tools you use to "overcome this challenge and succeed"...lol?
I am really looking forward to hearing others' perspectives. Thanks!
Specializes in home & public health, med-surg, hospice.
Hi Everyone!
First, I want to apologize for taking sooo long in getting back to thank everyone for their input. I have really gained a lot of insight from your posts and would like to echo others' admiration expressed here to all of the mothers who have so successfully faced this challenge and persevered despite all of the obstacles you've encountered!
In studying this issue, I learned some very interesting things. # 1: the time period of "adolescence" is a relatively new (in R/T the hx. of mankind) invention. It used to be there were children, and then upon physical maturation there was adulthood. There was no "in between" stage. People used to meet physical maturation and immediately enter adulthood, contributing accordingly with work, marriage, childbearing, etc. This led me to ask then, since necessity is the mother of all inventions, why was it necessary to create this new time period of development? I found 2 reasons. The 1st reason was that d/t the industrialization of our society (from an agricultural one) it required a longer period of time to produce workers who could efficiently contribute to the changed society with the skills needed. The 2nd reason, particularly within our generation, is to keep this group of individuals out of the workforce in order to decrease competition for jobs between them and the older population (makes sense if you think about the growing numbers of baby-boomers/or lack of decrease in numbers with advanced medical technologies increasing their life spans). This offers a good explanation for why the time period of adolescence seems to be increasing. It used to be 13-17 y/o, with recognized adulthood @ 18 y/o, now it's 13-19 and some even advocate for lengthening this period to 22 y/o!
All this seems a little ridiculous to me when you take into consideration, our younger generations are beginning physical maturation at an ever-increasing earlier rate. I know Southernlpn and I - along with some others, were just discussing this subject in R/T our 2 girls, entering pubescence @ 9, 10, 11 y/o and how difficult it is. The thing is, I wonder if we aren't fighting an impossible battle with "mother nature," herself. The few studies I reviewed indicated that while negative outcomes, esp. LBW and preterm births, are an increased risk for this age group, that if factors (diet, infection monitoring, etc.) are controlled for through prenatal care this age group has babies that are every bit as healthy as neonates born to mothers aged 22-30 y/o. In fact, if these factors are controlled for, they often have fewer complications than those presented in older maternal patients. One of my instructors actually said that during the later periods of adolescence their bodies are in reality @ their peak optimal levels for childbearing.
I thought about my own development during this time period - physical, mental, etc. And when I reflected upon my academic development, I thought about what an absolute waste of time the majority of my high-school education was to me. There wasn't one prereq course that I took in college that I couldn't have passed just as easily @ 16-17 y/o. In fact, most of the material I encountered was a complete repeat! I then thought of the children of my friends and relatives who are in their latter adolescent years and how totally unprepared I believe many of them are for the "real world." For example, a nephew who has never had a job @ 22 y/o as a senior in college because his parents wanted him to concentrate on his studies. Consequently, this one particular child I'm thinking of has never had to balance a checkbook, make payments on anything, juggle finances, etc (he also really struggled w/ keeping a GPA > 2.0 b/c ((I think)) he wasn't paying for any of his education). I can't help but wonder if we aren't in some ways contributing to the developmental delay of our youth and asking for failure when we try to enforce these standards.
All of this said (and I know I have rambled quite a bit), do I want my own daughter to become a parent @ 15 y/o? Uh...no. Will I encourage her to take college courses in the summer and dual-credit courses throughout the school year? Uh...yeah. (Hell, if she's mature enough, I'm not even sure if I wouldn't let her get a GED and start on her associates @ a CC) Do I think we need to do some serious rethinking of our priorities and our approach with this age group? MOST DEFINETLY!
I was a teenaged mom (I was 17 When my 1st DS was born and 19 with 2nd DS). I went to school as long as they would allow me and while I was out I came in every week to turn in my homework, pick up the next weeks and take any tests that had been given. I was in the top 1/3 of my senior class. Came back for the remainder of the year and did my work. When it came time for ordering invitations, etc. I was told I couldn't graduate with my class because i didn't have enough actual classroom hours. So I went and got my GED, recieving my diploma a month before my classmates did.
After that, I was in a bad marriage and didn't do anything with my life for 7 years. As a result of an accident that made me a widow at 22, I went to school to become a nurse. I worked 16 hours on Saturday and 16 hours on Sunday then wen to school 5 days a week. Many times, I feel asleep doing my care plans after the kids were in bed. I was sleep-deprived, financially strapped, and had no help from family. But , I did it.
I have been a nurse for 11 years now and I still love it. There are days when I wonder how the kids and I survived, but we did.
I was a teen mother. I got pregnant at 18 and had my DD at 19. Yes, it was very hard at first even with my mother's help. Her "dad" (my dad calls him a sperm donor since that is what he pretty much is) hasn't really done anything for her her whole life. I decided to go to college when she was around 2. I didn't want to work my butt off for $10 an hour any more. Now I am married (to a wonderful man who considers my daughter his) and have a 2 1/2 year old. And I am still in school almost 6 years later since I have been going part time and changed majors a couple of times. I don't mind since I am sure that I found something I will really like (nursing of course).
When I was in labor with my daughter, some of the nurses were very rude to me. I don't know if they were just rude to everyone or if it was because I was a young unmarried woman with a medical card. And this was at supposedly one of the best hospitals in the city.
Even now I get some strange looks when I am with my DD. I look almost 10 years younger and they are probably trying to figure out if she is my sister. And some of the parents in her daycare (when she was younger) and school didn't seem too warm to me until they got to know me. Then they realized that I wasn't too different from them even though I was much younger.
I think sometimes being a young parent was better for me. I might not have gone to college if it wasn't for my kids. I want a better life for them. I know that every decision I make will affect them. And plus I don't have the pressure to go out drinking like some of my classmates do. I don't have much of a choice than to go home and study
Kelly_the_Great
553 Posts
Hi Everyone!
First, I want to apologize for taking sooo long in getting back to thank everyone for their input. I have really gained a lot of insight from your posts and would like to echo others' admiration expressed here to all of the mothers who have so successfully faced this challenge and persevered despite all of the obstacles you've encountered!
In studying this issue, I learned some very interesting things. # 1: the time period of "adolescence" is a relatively new (in R/T the hx. of mankind) invention. It used to be there were children, and then upon physical maturation there was adulthood. There was no "in between" stage. People used to meet physical maturation and immediately enter adulthood, contributing accordingly with work, marriage, childbearing, etc. This led me to ask then, since necessity is the mother of all inventions, why was it necessary to create this new time period of development? I found 2 reasons. The 1st reason was that d/t the industrialization of our society (from an agricultural one) it required a longer period of time to produce workers who could efficiently contribute to the changed society with the skills needed. The 2nd reason, particularly within our generation, is to keep this group of individuals out of the workforce in order to decrease competition for jobs between them and the older population (makes sense if you think about the growing numbers of baby-boomers/or lack of decrease in numbers with advanced medical technologies increasing their life spans). This offers a good explanation for why the time period of adolescence seems to be increasing. It used to be 13-17 y/o, with recognized adulthood @ 18 y/o, now it's 13-19 and some even advocate for lengthening this period to 22 y/o!
All this seems a little ridiculous to me when you take into consideration, our younger generations are beginning physical maturation at an ever-increasing earlier rate. I know Southernlpn and I - along with some others, were just discussing this subject in R/T our 2 girls, entering pubescence @ 9, 10, 11 y/o and how difficult it is. The thing is, I wonder if we aren't fighting an impossible battle with "mother nature," herself. The few studies I reviewed indicated that while negative outcomes, esp. LBW and preterm births, are an increased risk for this age group, that if factors (diet, infection monitoring, etc.) are controlled for through prenatal care this age group has babies that are every bit as healthy as neonates born to mothers aged 22-30 y/o. In fact, if these factors are controlled for, they often have fewer complications than those presented in older maternal patients. One of my instructors actually said that during the later periods of adolescence their bodies are in reality @ their peak optimal levels for childbearing.
I thought about my own development during this time period - physical, mental, etc. And when I reflected upon my academic development, I thought about what an absolute waste of time the majority of my high-school education was to me. There wasn't one prereq course that I took in college that I couldn't have passed just as easily @ 16-17 y/o. In fact, most of the material I encountered was a complete repeat! I then thought of the children of my friends and relatives who are in their latter adolescent years and how totally unprepared I believe many of them are for the "real world." For example, a nephew who has never had a job @ 22 y/o as a senior in college because his parents wanted him to concentrate on his studies. Consequently, this one particular child I'm thinking of has never had to balance a checkbook, make payments on anything, juggle finances, etc (he also really struggled w/ keeping a GPA > 2.0 b/c ((I think)) he wasn't paying for any of his education). I can't help but wonder if we aren't in some ways contributing to the developmental delay of our youth and asking for failure when we try to enforce these standards.
All of this said (and I know I have rambled quite a bit), do I want my own daughter to become a parent @ 15 y/o? Uh...no. Will I encourage her to take college courses in the summer and dual-credit courses throughout the school year? Uh...yeah. (Hell, if she's mature enough, I'm not even sure if I wouldn't let her get a GED and start on her associates @ a CC) Do I think we need to do some serious rethinking of our priorities and our approach with this age group? MOST DEFINETLY!