a KIT Health , KIT Royal Tropical Institute , Amsterdam , The Netherlands.
b Nossal Institute for Global Health, Melbourne School of Population and Global Health , University of Melbourne , Melbourne , Australia.
Glob Health Action. 2019;12(1):1553282. doi: 10.1080/16549716.2018.1553282.
Pregnancy amongst adolescent girls is common in many parts of the world. The dominant discourse in public health unquestioningly paints this as a problem; it does not pay sufficient attention to girls' views.
This paper presents a critical account of adolescent South Sudanese girls' reasons for and explanations of childbearing. It discusses their experiences and views on childbearing and attempts to explain their reproductive choices and actions, in context.
The study draws upon 24 interviews with adolescent boys, girls and parents from Wau, South Sudan. Data was analysed using the framework analysis approach.
Three interacting themes within which adolescent girls framed their views and decisions about childbearing are identified. The local society places high value on motherhood - adolescent girls' desires to become mothers is a reproduction of this social norm. Girls linked having a child to the possibility of making one's 'own home'; in the difficult and uncertain context they lived in, for many girls, having a child (and making a home) appeared as one of the few means to be happy. In making the decision to bear a child, the girls navigated multiple dilemmas and trade-offs between an unpromising present and an uncertain future. Bearing a child and making one's 'own home' was seen as a way to exit into the world of adults, and as a strategy towards achieving security and stability.
Instead of simplistically problematizing adolescent pregnancy in South Sudan, it is important to take into account the experiences and standpoints of adolescent girls, and to recognize that in choosing to become mothers, they are in many ways exercising agency despite being severely constrained by complex, insecure and unfair social circumstances. We argue that such an approach will allow the development of more appropriate, realistic and inclusive health and social policies and programs.
少女怀孕在世界许多地方都很常见。公共卫生领域的主流观点毫不质疑地将其视为一个问题，而没有充分关注女孩的观点。
本文批判性地呈现了南苏丹少女生育的原因和解释。讨论了她们对生育的看法和经验，并试图在背景下解释她们的生育选择和行为。
这项研究借鉴了来自南苏丹瓦乌的 24 名青少年男孩、女孩和父母的访谈。使用框架分析方法对数据进行了分析。
确定了三个相互作用的主题，青少年女孩在这些主题框架内阐述了她们对生育的看法和决定。当地社会高度重视母性——少女渴望成为母亲，这是对这一社会规范的再生产。女孩们将生育与拥有“自己的家”的可能性联系起来；在她们生活的困难和不确定的背景下，对许多女孩来说，生孩子（并建立一个家）似乎是获得幸福的为数不多的手段之一。在做出生育孩子的决定时，女孩们在不确定的未来和不尽如人意的现在之间，面临着多种困境和权衡取舍。生孩子和建立自己的“家”被视为进入成年世界的一种方式，也是实现安全和稳定的一种策略。
在南苏丹，我们不应简单地将少女怀孕问题化，而应考虑到少女的经历和观点，并认识到，在选择成为母亲时，她们在很大程度上是在行使自主权，尽管她们受到复杂、不安全和不公平的社会环境的严重限制。我们认为，这种方法将有助于制定更合适、现实和包容的卫生和社会政策和方案。
