Adolescence: an analisis of the pregnancy decision

Abstract

This study aims to analyze the adolescents' decision for pregnancy considering the significance that such patients attribute to the phenomenon. It is a descriptive study with a qualitative approach, based on the theoretical and methodological principles of Symbolic Interactionism and Grounded Theory. To obtain data, sixteen teenagers aged twelve to sixteen years old underwent a semi-structured interview. All patients were attending a prenatal clinic of a Federal Institution in Rio de Janeiro, Brazil. Approval from the Ethics Research Committee was acquired. All women were informed about confidentiality, patient selection and aim of the study and an informed consent was obtained. Results showed two main categories that describe the meaning of such decision: 1) "Finding yourself pregnant", whose subcategories express the desire of getting pregnant and the planning of the pregnancy; and 2) "Choosing for pregnancy", whose subcategories express the feelings of power and autonomy that follow pregnancy. By integrating these categories, we reached a representative core category of the social process: Searching for Autonomy and Power. We conclude that to honor this decision and to recognize it as a teenager's right, represent the starting point of a nursing care based on the principles of bioethics and humanization. This implies the need of trained professionals, conscious of what reproductive rights represent and who understand that these patients have the right to practice their sexuality with safety and freedom.