What do teenage mothers want from the Well Child / Tamariki Ora service?

New Zealand has one of the highest rates of teenage pregnancy in the world. The UNICEF Innocenti Report Card (2001) places New Zealand third in the table of teenage births in rich nations with 29.8 per 1000 births by women aged 15-19 years. The literature suggests that teenage mothers often struggle to cope with the demands of caring for a baby while making the transition from adolescence to adulthood. They require additional support from families, partners and services to achieve good health outcomes for themselves and their children but for many, becoming a mother is a positive event. The Well Child /Tamariki Ora (WC/TO) service is provided at no cost to all children in New Zealand aged from birth to five years. This study aimed to discover what teenage mothers wanted from the WC/TO service and to explore whether the service was being effective in meeting the needs of teenage mothers in Hawke’s Bay, New Zealand. The investigation is a qualitative descriptive analysis based on data from two focus group interviews with a total of 12 participants who were teenage mothers aged between 16 and 19 years attending a secondary school teenage parent unit. Giorgi’s (1970) method of analysis was used as a guide for the data analysis, from which four main themes were generated. These formed the discussion about the teenage mothers’ experiences of contact with the WC/TO service, the information they received, attitudes toward teenage mothers, and the need for respect and caring. A comparison of these findings with other research revealed many similarities regarding the needs of and attitudes towards teenage mothers. Recommendations for making the WC/TO service one that teenage mothers want, and to ultimately improve health outcomes for their children, include: a smooth transition from the Lead Maternity Carer to a WC/TO service of their choice; good communication and relationship building; consistent and correct information including practical demonstrations; and nurses who are respectful and caring. It is suggested that a WC/TO nurse specialist involved with teenage mothers could be a positive step in this direction.

Name thesis:degree_name

Master of Nursing

Level thesis:degree_level

Masters

Grantor

Eastern Institute of Technology

Year dc:date.issued

2010

Author dc:creator

• Skerman, Nicky

• Hawke's Bay (N.Z.)
• New Zealand
• teenage mothers
• teenage pregnancy
• Māori
• Well Child/Tamariki Ora
• experiences
• needs
• attitudes
• interviews

Statement dc:rights

• All rights reserved

Language dc:language.iso

en

Handle dc:identifier.uri

https://hdl.handle.net/10652/6585

OAI identifier oai:identifier

oai:null:10652/6585