Adolescent Pregnancy in the Philippines

Background Few studies explore what it means to be an adolescent parent in the Philippines from the young parents’ perspective. This study sought to improve understanding of how adolescent mothers and young fathers experienced pregnancy in Palawan, Philippines. Methods We conducted narrative analysis of 27 semi-structured interviews with 15 Filipino young parents. Findings Our findings point to three pathways to adolescent pregnancy differentiated by life circumstances and perceived self-efficacy: through early unions, through ‘disgrasya’ (accident) in romantic relationships, and when pregnancy is directly related to adversity and disadvantage. Some young people adopted agentic narratives and had intended pregnancies within early unions. Young people who had unintended pregnancies in romantic relationships recounted constrained choice narratives, taking responsibility for their decisions while emphasising external factors’ influence on their decision-making. Other young mothers described the ways that prior adversity and disadvantage gave rise to unfavourable circumstances—including sexual violence—that led to unintended pregnancy but shared narratives showing how they had reclaimed agency in their lives. Conclusion Our findings highlight the need to (1) address underlying poverty and structural inequalities that limit Filipino young people’s life choices and contribute to their pathways to adolescent pregnancy; (2) provide Filipino young people with access to essential sexual and reproductive health information, services, and supplies; and (3) change social norms to rectify gender-based power imbalances and sexual violence.

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Barriers to the implementation of sexual and reproductive health programs for adolescents in Eastern Visayas, Philippines: a thematic synthesis of national policies using a qualitative study

dela Luna,

Sy,

Malimban

et al. 2024

J Rural Med

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Objective: To review the implementation of essential reproductive health services in Eastern Visayas, Philippines. Materials and Methods: We reviewed four national policies through a qualitative research design using a series of key informant interviews conducted with service providers and focus group discussions with service beneficiaries. Results: There was a gap between the policies and the implementation of reproductive health services in the Eastern Visayas region. This gap is mainly due to the refusal of service providers to cater to teenagers’ needs regarding reproductive health services. This has resulted in teenagers hesitating to seek reproductive health services and related support from primary healthcare facilities. Service beneficiaries have also reported on the unavailability of several reproductive health services in primary healthcare facilities. Conclusion: The gap between national policies and program implementation must be bridged. This can be achieved by creating culturally-specific policies that can improve the implementation of reproductive health programs in the study areas.

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Adolescent Pregnancy in the Philippines

Cited by 3 publications

References 5 publications

‘You can still have dreams for your child’: Filipino young people’s lived experiences of parenthood

‘You can still have dreams for your child’: Filipino young people’s lived experiences of parenthood

Early union, ‘disgrasya’, and prior adversity and disadvantage: pathways to adolescent pregnancy among Filipino youth

Barriers to the implementation of sexual and reproductive health programs for adolescents in Eastern Visayas, Philippines: a thematic synthesis of national policies using a qualitative study

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