TEENAGER'S PERCEPTION ON THEIR EXPERIENCES AS

YOUNG MOTHERS

Faculty of Humanities and Social Sciences

Submitted by:

Dairienne Mae T. Maique

March 2019
 CHAPTER 1
THE PROBLEM AND ITS SCOPE

Introduction

Teenage pregnancy has been a worldwide issue that needs to be confronted

to mitigate the problems of maternal adolescent childbearing, especially in

the third world countries. In fact, it has emerged to be one of the major

public health problems in South Asia (Raj et al., 2010) and in Western

Europe (Seamarck, 2001).

Background of the study here in the Philippines, we believe in the

saying of our National Hero Dr. Jose P. Rizal that “Youth is the hope for our

mother land.” In their hands lies the future generation to follow. But as we

see from the situation nowadays, what we’re affecting from the youth with

numerous teenage females becoming pregnant at any given instance.

Data show that pregnant teenagers in the Philippines are mostly 17, 18

and 19 years old. They live with their mothers, parents or relatives. The

father of the child is, in most cases, a teenage boy.

Reasons for becoming pregnant among teenagers include: Unplanned

Sexual Encounters (“Getting caught up in the moment.”) And peer pressure;

Lack of information on safe sex; Breakdown of family life and lack of

female role models in the family; and absence of accessible adolescent-

friendly clinics.

Teenagers from poor backgrounds are disproportionately represented

among pregnant teenagers. However, experts have argued that teenager’s

pregnancy should be understood as a symptom of dire economic conditions

rather than a cause of it. Teenage pregnancy perpetuates the cycle of poverty

and inequality because most pregnant teenagers have no source of income

and face greater financial difficulties later in life. This is because they drop

out of school and are less likely to pursue further education or skills training.

Teenage mothers face critical health risks, including inadequate

nutrition during pregnancy due to poor eating habits. Dangers associated

with the reproductive organs not ready for birth and maternal death due to

higher risk of eclampsia, among others.

Theoretical Background

This study is anchored on the Reconciling Theory of Christina J. Diaz

& Jeremy E. Fiel which states that although teenage mothers have lower

educational attainment and earnings than women who delay fertility, causal

interpretations of this relationship remain controversial. Scholars argue that

there are reasons to predict negative, trivial, or even positive effects, and

different methodological approaches provide some support for each

perspective.

We reconcile this ongoing debate by drawing on two heuristics: (1)

each methodological strategy emphasizes different women in estimation

procedures, and (2) the effects of teenage fertility likely vary in the

population.Further analyses suggest that teen pregnancy is particularly

harmful for those with the brightest socioeconomic prospects and who are

least prepared for the transition to motherhood.

 The researchers chose to anchor the study on this theory because it

has a big relevance to their chosen topic which is quite helpful. The theory

clearly states the effects of being a teen age mother which is quite helpful

to the researchers study which is to know the young mothers perception on

their experiences

Statement of The Problem

Title: This research seeks to study on the teenager’s perception on

their experiences as young mothers.

To be specific, this research should aim to give clarifications to the

following question:

1. What were your feelings when you found out that you are pregnant?

2. What were the factors that affect you in all your decisions as a young

mother?

3. What was the most difficult experience as a young mother?

4. Who supported you and helped you in times of you being pregnant?

5. Based on findings, what action plan can we propose to solve the

problem?
Significance of the Study

The study hopes to establish an understanding on the teenager’s

perception on their experiences as young mothers, the study could be

importance to the following:

Teenagers. The input of the study minds and will provide them

awareness of the consequences of having pre-marital sex, and will develop

self-control.

Teenager Mothers. To realize that early pregnancy is a serious

problem; A crisis that concerns the baby, parents and other members of the

family.

Parents. It will take serious steps on teen pregnancy prevention.

Researcher. It will serve as a future reference material to future

studies related to the subject.

 DEFINITION OF TERMS

The following are the key words that are used in the study.

Teenage Pregnancy is when young people are involved in pre-

marital sex and resulting to pregnancy.

Experiences are the challenges the respondent experienced in her life

being a teen parent

Young Mother is the term for those teens who undergo teenage

pregnancy.

Pregnant is when a woman is ready to bear a baby

  Teenager’s
Perception
on their
Experiences
as Young
Mothers CHAPTER 3
RESEARCH METHODOLOGY

Research Design

This study used the correlative survey of research.

Figure 1 shows the flow.

INPUT PROCESS
OUTPUT  Correlative  Proposed
survey Action Plan
 Data
Gathering
 Analysis of
Data
 Interpreta-
tion
 Figure 1

Research Flow

Research Environment

The study is conducted at some residences of Barangay Maslog,

Danao, Cebu. As long as there is a teenage mother in Barangay Maslog who

are willing to be surveyed.

Research Participants

Teenage mothers of Barangay Maslog from the research environment

that must have experienced and become a victim of teenage pregnancy. The

respondents are selected using the random sampling method. The

respondents must be a residence of Barangay Maslog, Danao, Cebu.

Research Instrument

It contains 4 interview questions that will be used to gather data with

regards to the Teenager’s Perception on their Experiences as Young

Mothers. The research questionnaire contains four numbers of questions

which will be needed to be answered by the respondents in order to gather

data.

Research Procedure

Gathering of Data. A letter was sent to the Barangay Captain of

Maslog asking permission to conduct a study in some of the residences in

Barangay Maslog. Upon the approval of letter, the interview is conducted,

and then the answers were generalized.

 Questionnaire

Name(optional): Age:

1. What were your feelings when you found out that you are pregnant?

2. What were the factors that affect you in all your decisions as a young
mother?

3. What was the most difficult experience as a young mother?

4. Who supported you and helped you in times of you being pregnant?