title: Planned adolescent pregnancy: what they needed.
abstract: Adolescent pregnancy represents a significant portion of all pregnancies that occur in the United States. However, little is known about adolescents who plan to become pregnant. This phenomenologic investigation attempts to fill the gap in the current literature by addressing this question. Eight adolescent girls between the ages of 14 and 17 were interviewed regarding their experiences planning pregnancy. Participants were recruited from a prenatal clinic in a large tertiary care center in New York City. Themes that emerged from the interviews were related to planning the pregnancy and to the pregnancy. Themes related to planning the pregnancy were further classified as either needs or wants of the adolescent participants. The themes related to adolescent needs are presented in this article and include: that certain important criteria were met for pregnancy including financial, relationship, and age-related goals; planning involved the boyfriend at least to some extent; environmental issues; and the need for stability. Each theme is discussed in depth and recommendations for practice are addressed.
authors.affiliation: School of Nursing, The University of Texas at Austin, 78701, USA. kmontgomery@mail.nur.utexas.edu
authors.forename: K S
authors.initials: KS
authors.lastname: Montgomery
mesh_terms: D000223:Adaptation, Psychological; D000293:Adolescent; D001294:Attitude to Health; D005193:Family Planning Services; D005220:Fathers / Q000523:psychology; D005260:Female; D006040:Goals; D006801:Humans; D009035:Mothers / Q000523:psychology*; D020380:Needs Assessment / Q000458:organization & administration*; D009519:New York City; D015404:Nursing Methodology Research; D011247:Pregnancy; D011253:Pregnancy in Adolescence / Q000523:psychology*; D000297:Psychology, Adolescent; D013315:Stress, Psychological / Q000523:psychology; D011795:Surveys and Questionnaires