‘You just have to learn to keep moving on’: young women’s experiences with unplanned pregnancy in the Cook Islands

Abstract

The Cook Islands is one of several countries in the Pacific region that has high rates of teenage pregnancy and birth. While the social determinants of pregnancy and early motherhood are well established in the global context, little is known about how Cook Islands young women who become pregnant before age 20 make sense of their experiences. Drawing on individual interviews with a purposive sample of 10 young mothers, this paper examines the phenomenology of early pregnancy from their perspectives. Structural, cultural and individual factors emerged as salient themes in participants' accounts. Qualitative analysis revealed that nearly all the pregnancies were unplanned and every participant reacted negatively when she learned she was pregnant. While some participants wanted to terminate their pregnancies, lack of access to safe, legal and affordable abortion care limited their options. Ultimately, while nearly all participants wished they had been able to delay motherhood, they expressed happiness and pride about their new-found status as mothers. These findings allow for a fuller understanding of factors shaping young women's experiences of pregnancy in the Cook Islands, which have policy implications for reproductive health and rights.

Barriers and enablers to young people accessing sexual and reproductive health services in Pacific Island Countries and Territories: A scoping review

“…The eight articles [ 34 – 41 ] included for evaluation were studies conducted in PICTs with young people aged 10–24 years as main study participants and reported on young people’s responses to access to SRH information and services, thus meeting the inclusion criteria for this scoping review. Table 1 presents a summary of the studies’ characteristics.…”

“…All eight articles employed a qualitative design, and two [ 34 , 35 ] were from studies conducted in Papua New Guinea. Two articles [ 38 , 39 ] were from studies conducted in Fiji, two articles [ 36 , 37 ] were from one study conducted in Vanuatu, and the final two articles [ 40 , 41 ] were from one study conducted in the Cook Islands.…”

“…Four [ 36 – 39 ] of the eight articles reported data collected using focus group discussions and semi-structured interviews. In three articles [ 35 , 40 , 41 ], data were collected using only semi-structured interviews. The remaining article [ 34 ] reported observation and storytelling as data collection methods.…”

“…The remaining article [ 34 ] reported observation and storytelling as data collection methods. Study participants for six articles [ 34 – 39 ] were males and females, while two articles [ 40 , 41 ] had females only as study participants.…”

Intersectional discourses of reproductive agency in the Philippines: A mixed methods analysis of classed constructions of pregnancy resolution

“…By assuming maternal identities, they redirect stigmatized constructions of their unplanned pregnancies as mistakes into moments of growth and transformation. In such contexts, shame is countered by emotions of happiness and pride which attend the motherhood role (White et al, 2018).…”