Early union, \u2018disgrasya\u2019, and prior adversity and disadvantage: pathways to adolescent pregnancy among Filipino youth

Christine Marie Habito,Alison Morgan,Cathy Vaughan

doi:10.1186/s12978-021-01163-2

Christine Marie Habito, Alison Morgan + Show 1 more

Open Access

https://doi.org/10.1186/s12978-021-01163-2

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Abstract

BackgroundFew studies explore what it means to be an adolescent parent in the Philippines from the young parents’ perspective. This study sought to improve understanding of how adolescent mothers and young fathers experienced pregnancy in Palawan, Philippines.MethodsWe conducted narrative analysis of 27 semi-structured interviews with 15 Filipino young parents.FindingsOur findings point to three pathways to adolescent pregnancy differentiated by life circumstances and perceived self-efficacy: through early unions, through ‘disgrasya’ (accident) in romantic relationships, and when pregnancy is directly related to adversity and disadvantage. Some young people adopted agentic narratives and had intended pregnancies within early unions. Young people who had unintended pregnancies in romantic relationships recounted constrained choice narratives, taking responsibility for their decisions while emphasising external factors’ influence on their decision-making. Other young mothers described the ways that prior adversity and disadvantage gave rise to unfavourable circumstances—including sexual violence—that led to unintended pregnancy but shared narratives showing how they had reclaimed agency in their lives.ConclusionOur findings highlight the need to (1) address underlying poverty and structural inequalities that limit Filipino young people’s life choices and contribute to their pathways to adolescent pregnancy; (2) provide Filipino young people with access to essential sexual and reproductive health information, services, and supplies; and (3) change social norms to rectify gender-based power imbalances and sexual violence.

Highlights

Few studies explore what it means to be an adolescent parent in the Philippines from the young parents’ perspective
We explored experiences of adolescent pregnancy from the perspective of pregnant and parenting Filipino youth and examined them guided by the four discourses outlined by Deirdre Kelly [64]
While the young people described pregnancies occurring in diverse circumstances, our participants’ narratives can be clustered into three main pathways to adolescent pregnancy: (1) Early union as a life choice; (2) ‘Disgrasya’ in romantic relationships; and (3) Prior adversity and disadvantage

Summary

Introduction

Few studies explore what it means to be an adolescent parent in the Philippines from the young parents’ perspective. Extensive literature highlights the association between adolescent pregnancy and risks of pregnancyand childbirth-related morbidity and mortality, and compromised educational and employment prospects, especially in low- and middle-income countries [1,2,3,4,5]. Within these contexts, some factors underlying adolescent pregnancy include early marriage (or union formation) and timing and context of first sex [6]. Unintended (mistimed and unwanted) births were more likely among adolescent mothers compared to older women, with roughly 30% of births to adolescent mothers reported as unintended [11]

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