Understanding Early Pregnancies

Sociocultural Factors of Teenage Childbearing in Gaborone, Botswana

Bibliographic Data

ID4613601
AuthorsTebo Kgosiemang (0000-0002-5923-9839, Ben-Gurion University of the Negev, Beer-Sheva, Israel, corresponding author), P Motzafi-Haller (0000-0001-8799-7613, Ben-Gurion University of the Negev)
Year2021
Volume31
Issue14
Pages2641-2652
Publication date2021-12-01
Peer ReviewedYes
Open AccessYes
TypeARTICLE
VenueQualitative Health Research (JOURNAL)
Journal identifiersISSN: 1049-7323 • E-ISSN: 1552-7557
PublisherSAGE Publications Inc (PUBLISHER)
DOI10.1177/10497323211041978
PMID34612736
OpenAlexW3203166266
LanguageEN
Citations received3
References cited28

The potential risk of being exposed to HIV/AIDS has structured the ways teenage or out-of-wedlock pregnancies are studied and treated in Botswana. We used feminist ethnographic research methods which focus on the narratives of young women and their social networks to understand this phenomenon. Looking at the issue from the adolescent girls' perspective reveals that such pregnancies have always existed, and their continued existence can be attributed to local sociocultural perceptions of fertility, pregnancy, and marriage. We show that the young mothers continue with their lives without being labeled as social outcasts and that they are supported by family networks. Social policies intended to provide health services need to restructure those services based on a culturally sensitive model outlined in this article

Developmental psychology · Ethnography · Fertility · Focus group · Narrative · Political science · Population · Restructuring · Sociocultural evolution · Sociology · Teenage pregnancy · Adolescent Sexual and Reproductive Health · Demography · Gender Studies · HIV/AIDS Research and Interventions · Poverty, Education, and Child Welfare · Psychology

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