Factors related to self-care behaviors of teenage pregnant women in Phetchaburi province

Abstract Teenage pregnancy has affect health of mother and child from complications during pregnancy and postpartum. The purpose of this study was to examine selfcare behaviors of teenage pregnant women in Phetchaburi province and its related factors. A mixed-method of quantitative and qualitative design was used. Subjects were 365 pregnant women aged less than 20 receiving antenatal services in general and community hospitals selected by simple random sampling. Data was collected using questionnaire and in-depth interview. Data analysis was performed by using statistical software package. Descriptive statistics, chisquare analysis, Fisher exact test, Pearson’s Product Moment correlation coefficients were used. Qualitative data was analyzed by content analysis. Results show that most of teenage pregnant women had overall self-care behaviors at moderate level (57.5%). Good and poor level of self-care behavior were reported at 42.2% and 0.3%, respectively. It was found that basic factors (including age, monthly income, education level), knowledge related to self-care during pregnancy, overall social support, perceived health status, self-efficacy in health care were positively related to self-care behaviors of teenage pregnant women at p<0.05. In-depth interview found that most of teenage pregnant women come from broken family or lived with grandmothers/relative due to lost parent. They love freedom and mostly spend time with friends. Causes of pregnancy is being alone with their boyfriends, lack of knowledge in pregnancy prevention, having sex without using condom, inappropriate use of contraceptive pills and post coital contraception. Findings suggest that, to promote self-care behaviors of teenage pregnant women, public health officers should provide knowledge in self-care practice during pregnancy related to nutrition, warning signs for labor, and risks for pregnancy complications. Husband, family, and friends of teenage pregnant women should accept and offer help during pregnancy including accompanying them for follow-up so that pregnant women can rest and follow advice of public health personnel. Knowledge on family planning should also be provided for effective prevention of pregnancy.