Teenage Pregnancy Research Report - 3p Consulting

Setting the scene - a local case studyCASE STUDY 3Penny 14 yearsEvan 2 yearsSexually ActivePenny realised she was pregnant three and a halfmonths after having unplanned sex at a music festivalwith someone she didn’t know. She says she wasdrunk and she couldn’t remember the circumstancesof what happened and wasn’t really sure she had hadsex until she well into the next day. She just wanted toforget all about it.Penny bought a home pregnancy test after sherealised she had not menstruated for some timeand was absolutely devastated when the test waspositive. She seriously considered having an abortion,however by then she was about 15 weeks pregnantand accessing termination was both difficult and costprohibitive.Penny’s parents were separated and she had nocontact with her father since she was a toddler. Hermother had not re-partnered. Penny left home assoon as she started working and lived with her oldersister in a small flat. Penny trained and then worked asa beauty therapist after completing Grade 10. Pennydid well at school and had been clear about her careerpath since she was 13 years.Penny learnt about relationships, sexual health andcontraception mostly from her sister. She gainedsome other information from school sex educationclasses in Grade 9 and 10, although she had sometrouble recalling the content. Her mother never talkedabout anything to do with sex apart from telling her tobe careful not to fall pregnant.Her mother was initially shocked and disapprovingwhen Penny told her she was pregnant and they didn’tspeak with each other for a few months. However asthe pregnancy progressed her attitude softened shewas cautiously supportive although she believedthat Penny should take total responsibility to careof herself and her baby with minimal help from her.Penny’s main emotional support was her sister.Penny did not try to find or contact the probable fatherof her child. She says that she preferred not to makeher situation more difficult than it was.PregnancyOnce she decided to continue with her pregnancyPenny was careful with her health. She had alwayseaten well and she continued to do so. She alsostopped drinking alcohol and using drugs. She hadnever smoked tobacco.She often felt very depressed and found it difficult tomotivate herself to exercise or to make the effort tocatch the public transport necessary to attend theantenatal clinic for pregnancy checks. ConsequentlyPenny attended minimal appointments and lookingback says she was unprepared for labour or parenting.Penny finished work when she was seven monthspregnant. Penny felt judged by her work colleaguesand by some of her clientele so she was relieved tofinish work.Just before she finished work Penny moved into asmall bedsit as there was not going to be enoughroom for her and the baby at her sister’s place.ParentingAfter Evan was born Penny’s sister came aroundevery day for the first week to help her out and hermother also helped in a practical way by cooking hermeals and helping with the laundry in the early weeks.Otherwise she spent time in her unit alone with Evan.A midwife also visited her over a period of two weeks.Penny trusted her, finding her a great support and hascontinued to have contact with her regularly, travellingto whichever clinic she is working from.Parenting has been extremely difficult for Penny. Shefound parenting a young baby almost overwhelmingand therefore although Penny is uncomfortable ingroup situations she attended PYPS sessions atevery opportunity in Evan’s first year. She found thatbeing with people in the same situation as herself andbeing able to speak with the facilitator helped her “getthrough” some of the hard parts of early parenting.Otherwise Penny’s main adult interactions were withher sister.As Evan became older Penny’s mother gradually hadmore contact with both Penny and Evan and whenPenny had to leave her bedsit she moved in with her77