Keywords: Adolescents; rural disatvantaged area; contraception use; sexual and reproductive health services; teenage pregnancy.
Setting:
Although the rates of adolescent pregnancies appear to have dropped in almost all Europe, some countries of Eastern Europe, still have a high average teenage pregnancy rate. According to a study conducted by UNICEF in 2021, Romania ranks second in the European Union in the birth rate among adolescent mothers, and Bacau County ranks fifth in teenage motherhood in Romania. As a family doctor in this county, I am concerned that adolescents continue to remain vulnerable to poor reproductive health.
Target group:
Data were collected about fifteen to nineteen year-old female teenagers pregnancies, in a population-based retrospective cohort study from January 2008 to December 2023 using our GP practice database. Other collected data were related to the educational level of pregnant teenagers, on their economic and family status and the evolution of the pregnancy.
The obtained data were compared with the national and european average.
Description of the innovative practice or project:
The purpose of the study was to analyze the evolution of adolescent pregnancies in a small disadvantaged rural area and to identify ways to improve the situation.
Evaluation:
In rural disatvantaged romanian area adolescent pregnancy rate is still high.
The teenage pregnancy has many negative social, economic and health consequences on expectant adolescents.
The parental behavioral pattern is often repeated from one generation to another in the same family.
Next Steps:
Integrated public policies with multidimensional approach, concerted and specific actions must be taken in every little disadvantaged area in order to decrease the rate of pregnancy among teenage girls at the country level.
Lessons learned:
The lack of sexual education and family planning programs and the reduced accessibility to sexual health care services dedicated to young people cannot be compensated by the family doctor’s efforts.
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