Pregnant teenagers' reasons for seeking or delaying prenatal care

The purpose of this descriptive study was to explore the reasons that pregnant teenagers do or do not seek prenatal care during the first trimester of pregnancy. Interviews were conducted with a volunteer sample of 49 pregnant adolescent girls, 13 to 18 years old, in primary care settings. The informants' self-reported reasons for seeking early prenatal care included feeling ill, being worried about themselves, wanting a pregnancy test, and the teen's mother insisting that she begin prenatal care. Reasons for delaying care included not recognizing pregnancy symptoms, denying being pregnant, fear of parents' response to the pregnancy, and lack of financial resources. The findings suggest that pregnant adolescents who sought early prenatal care had adequate family support and a stronger knowledge base about pregnancy than those who delayed care. Nurses and other health care personnel in clinical practice should provide information about the symptoms and signs of pregnancy and about the importance of initiating early prenatal care, in all encounters with preadolescent and adolescent girls and their mothers, to increase the likelihood that teens will seek early prenatal care if they become pregnant.