Pregnancy in Adolescence and Health Education for the Exercise of Responsible Sexuality: an Integrative Review

Abstract

Objective: This review aims to investigate the scientific production aboute the health education in adolescence for the responsible sexual practice. Methods: This is an integrative review, using scientific articles indexed in the Virtual Health Library (VHL). We searched for articles in the databases LILACS, SCIELO and BDENF and the following descriptors were used: Pregnancy in Adolescence; Nurse; Health Education. In the search, 20 articles were found, of which, only 14 met the objective of the study. Inclusion criteria: full text available, original article, publication between 2014 and 2019 available in Portuguese and included in the proposed theme. Results: Adolescent pregnancy is considered a relevant public health problem, due the high prevalence across the country. The profile of pregnant adolescents is between 12 and 19 years, most of them single, low education, mixed race, housewives. The literature shows that early pregnancy impairs the female emancipation, results the school dropout, early entry into the labor market, disqualification, violence, decreased opportunities and also being associated with the spread of IST’s. Due to this situation and the future repercussions, unplanned pregnancy among adolescents requires holistic approaches to promote health and prevention measures. Conclusion: The nurse is essential in the development of preventive and educational skills with adolescents, establishing a strategy aimed at preventing teenage pregnancy, creating groups with purposes in the promotion of health and prevention of IST’s/early pregnancy, with the objective of making young people aware of the importance of active participation in health education actions.