Challenges in preventing a subsequent pregnancy in adolescents: perspectives of adolescents’ mothers

Abstract

This article presents the result of a qualitative evaluation of the actions that the public health services develop for the prevention of subsequent adolescent pregnancies in a state in north-central Mexico. The objective was to document the perceived obstacles to preventing subsequent teenage pregnancies in teenage mothers. The information was obtained in the period 2016-2018, by individual interviews in the homes of young users of public health services. The analysis of the information was based on Strauss and Corbin’s proposal for the grounded theory. The experiences shared by the young mothers were analyzed and classified into two categories, obstacles associated with: (1) professional competences, and (2) with moral imagery. It is concluded that the most important limitations are related to the fact that the strategy of adolescent friendly services is no longer implemented in those who have been mothers, without considering the biological and psychosocial impact that subsequent pregnancies have in adolescence and the need to delay reproduction until adulthood.