Teen Mothers' Perceptions of Medicalization and the Patient/Provider Relationship

Within the past twenty years, a great deal of research has addressed pregnancy and childbirth in the United States. Often, however, prior studies have focused on white middle-class women and have neglected the experiences of women of color and low-income women. Teen mothers have also been marginalized in past research. With few exceptions, the limited research that does exist on African American teen mothers is usually framed around the "teen pregnancy crisis" in the U.S; seldom are teens included in studies dealing with the overall issue of medicalization. In an effort to understand the extent to which the medical model of childbirth shapes teens' understandings and experiences of prenatal care, this paper analyzes in-depth interviews with 40 pregnant or parenting African American adolescents attending a Teen Parenting Program. The analysis focuses on teens' accounts of their experiences with the patient provider relationship and their interpretations of and responses to the medicalization of pregnancy and birth contextualized in teens' encounters with medical providers during pregnancy. Overall, the adolescents accepted the medical model of pregnancy and childbirth. There were, however, acts of resistance and defiance of medical authority.

Name thesis:degree_name

Master of Science

Level thesis:degree_level

Thesis

Discipline thesis:degree_discipline

Sociology & Anthropology

Year dc:date.available

2005

Author dc:creator

• Martin-Lyon, Preston

Contributors dc:contributor

• Dr. Sarah Jane Brubaker

• pregnancy
• childbirth
• adolescent
• African-American
• Social and Behavioral Sciences

Statement dc:rights

• © The Author

Identifier

https://scholarscompass.vcu.edu/etd/696

OAI identifier oai:identifier

oai:scholarscompass.vcu.edu:etd-1695