Teenage Pregnancy Research Report - 3p Consulting

IntroductionPoor outcomes associated with teenage pregnancy andparenthood for both parents and their children are welldocumented internationally, nationally and locally. At alocal level, the comprehensive report: Making ChoicesYoung People and Pregnancy in Tasmania completed in2005 captures the research community’s conclusions onthese risks to teen parents and their children:• A teenage mother is more likely to be dependenton government assistance, have low educationcompletion, a threefold chance of postnataldepression, difficulty developing parenting skills, haverapid, repeat pregnancy and abortion, and be moreinvolved in the child protection system than their oldercounterparts 1 ; and• The children of teenage parents have an increasedrisk of pre-term birth and low birth weight, mortalityand morbidity during childhood, and a higher riskof physical and mental health problems in later life.They are also more likely to become teenage parentsthemselves.Teenage fertility rates in Tasmania have remained highover the past 20 years relative to other Australian states,despite government and community sector efforts tointervene. 2 Currently there is a two-tiered responseto teenage birth rates. One is focused on providingappropriate sex education and contraception informationto young people and the other provides services thatproactively support young parents.The Northern Early Years Group (NEYG) identifiedtackling teenage birth rates at a regional level as partof its Five-Year Strategic Plan and commissioned thisresearch project through funding from UnitingCareTasmania and the Lenten Appeal. The NEYG is focusedon adding to, rather than duplicating, the work alreadycompleted in the Making Choices report and, as such, theTeenage Pregnancy Research Project has focused oninvestigating teenagers’ behaviour, values and attitudesto relationships, sexuality, pregnancy and teen parentingin Northern Tasmania.Specifically, this research seeks to understand thepsychosocial reasons behind teenage pregnancy ratesand address two aspects of teenage behaviour:• The gap between knowledge of and access tocontraception, pregnancy prevention and sexualactivity and behaviour in practice, and the experiences,perceptions and expectations of particularly high riskgroups; and• The decision-making process once pregnancy hasoccurred and the factors that influence pregnancyoutcomes.The outcomes from the research will be used to map acoordinated strategy with the aim of effectively addressingthe teenage pregnancy rates in the north.This report presents the findings of the research usingthree categories:1. Becoming Sexually Active;2. Pregnancy; and3. Parenting.Within these categories, the research explores:• The literature; and• The local context.Additionally key findings and opportunities for furtherinvestigation are outlined for each category.A range of case studies have been used throughout theresearch report, based on interviews with young parentswho participated in this research. These case studieshave been de-identified to ensure the privacy of therecipients.13