By Browning Brooks
FSU Communications group
Pregnant teenagers who are ignorant about pregnancy or afraid of their families' scorn are more likely than others to delay prenatal care until the third trimester, according to a study by two FSU nursing professors.
"Our study emphasizes why nurses and other health-care personnel should provide information about the symptoms and signs of pregnancy and the importance of initiating early prenatal care in all encounters with young girls and their mothers," said Professor Sally Hughes Lee, clinical director of the Family Nurse Practitioner Program at FSU.
Lee has recently received the National Nurse Practitioner Award for research in teen-age pregnancy and prenatal care.
Of concern in the United States is the tendency of teen mothers to delay prenatal care until the second, and sometimes the third, trimester of their pregnancies.
"Approximately half of the teens who give birth are single when their child is born," Lee has written. "It is well known that these young, single mothers are at particularly high risk for many problems, including preterm labor and delivery of low birthweight and handicapped infants.
In a study published in Clinical Nursing Research, Lee and Professor Laurie M. Grubbs went directly to teen-agers to ask their subjective reasons for starting or delaying prenatal care.
They interviewed 49 girls, 14 to 18 years old, including Caucasians, African Americans and Hispanics, who had just delivered babies or were pregnant.
Most of the girls were from rural northwest Florida, but one-third were from urban southeast Florida.
Of the 49 teens, 37 had care during the first trimester and 12 delayed care until the third trimester.
"Those who sought early care had more family support," Lee said.
The teen mothers who delayed prenatal care until the third trimester all said they felt well during the early months.
When girls in the group that delayed were asked why they waited, five said they were afraid to tell their mothers about their pregnancy, and four said they did not know they were pregnant. Lack of money for private health care was also perceived as a barrier.