Agha Nadia, Rind Rahim Dad
Department of Sociology & Gender Studies, Shah Abdul Latif University, Khairpur, Pakistan.
Department of Sociology, University of Sindh, Jamshoro, Pakistan.
PLoS One. 2025 Mar 31;20(3):e0319064. doi: 10.1371/journal.pone.0319064. eCollection 2025.
In Low and Middle-Income Countries (LMICs), 21 million adolescent girls aged between 15 and 19 years become pregnant each year. Adolescent girls in South Asia have the shortest interval to begin maternity, i.e., within 1-2 years of marriage. There is limited evidence on the associated factors of adolescent pregnancy and motherhood in rural areas where socioeconomic indicators about women are weak. This study examined the sociocultural factors intertwined together and gave rise to adolescent motherhood.
This exploratory qualitative study was conducted in rural and less privileged areas in Pakistan's Sindh province. Data was collected from August 05 to September 17, 2023, and 37 young women, who experienced early marriage, adolescent pregnancy and motherhood, were interviewed. The data was translated and transcribed verbatim. Braun & Clark's six-step data analysis Model was used to create codes, develop themes and generate a report.
The findings of the study show that child and close kin group marriage, poor socioeconomic conditions and social norms encouraged adolescent motherhood among young women. One's association with the extended family also increased the likelihood of early maternity because different family members exerted social pressure to become a mother. This made the girls anxious to begin motherhood soon after marriage. However, these young mothers were unaware of adolescent's motherhood's social, psychological and physical consequences. They embraced it happily because it was considered a way of strengthening their position in the family.
This study confirms the negative consequences of adolescent motherhood in terms of school dropout and poor health outcomes. Based on these findings, we suggest addressing poverty and female dropout rates to prevent child marriage and adolescent pregnancy. Health providers must be trained to provide awareness and psychological support to girls experiencing adolescent motherhood. The government must initiate sexual and reproductive health education and engage community heads and religious leaders to educate communities about the social and health consequences of child marriage, adolescent pregnancy and motherhood.
在低收入和中等收入国家（LMICs），每年有2100万年龄在15至19岁之间的少女怀孕。南亚的少女开始生育的间隔时间最短，即在结婚后的1至2年内。在农村地区，关于妇女的社会经济指标薄弱，关于青少年怀孕和成为母亲的相关因素的证据有限。本研究调查了相互交织的社会文化因素，并导致了青少年成为母亲。
这项探索性定性研究在巴基斯坦信德省的农村和贫困地区进行。数据收集于2023年8月5日至9月17日，采访了37名经历过早婚、青少年怀孕和成为母亲的年轻女性。数据被逐字翻译和转录。使用布劳恩和克拉克的六步数据分析模型来创建代码、开发主题并生成报告。
研究结果表明，儿童和近亲结婚、社会经济条件差以及社会规范促使年轻女性成为青少年母亲。与大家庭的联系也增加了早育的可能性，因为不同的家庭成员施加了成为母亲的社会压力。这使得女孩们在婚后很快就急于成为母亲。然而，这些年轻母亲并未意识到青少年成为母亲的社会、心理和身体后果。她们欣然接受，因为这被认为是加强她们在家庭中地位的一种方式。
本研究证实了青少年成为母亲在辍学和健康状况不佳方面的负面后果。基于这些发现，我们建议解决贫困和女性辍学率问题，以防止童婚和青少年怀孕。必须培训医疗服务提供者，为经历青少年成为母亲的女孩提供意识和心理支持。政府必须开展性健康和生殖健康教育，并让社区负责人和宗教领袖参与，向社区宣传童婚、青少年怀孕和成为母亲的社会和健康后果。
