Experience of becoming a Thai early adolescent mother

Abstract

This descriptive qualitative research aimed to describe experiences of a Thai early adolescent to become a mother. Purposive sampling was used to recruit a sample of 15 adolescent mothers aged 10-14 years in the East Region with their 12 months old baby or younger. The adolescent mothers must give or participate in caring for the baby since the baby was born until 4 months old or more. Data were collected by using in-depth interview, observation without participation and information from maternal and infant health record. Content analysis method was applied for data analysis. Results revealed that three core categories emerged from the analysis. There were 1) the perception of an early adolescent mother contained 5 subcategories of the most wonderful thing in life, deeply delighted, do everything for the baby, tired but bearable and learning experiences 2) support for an early adolescent mother role consisted of 3 subcategories of assistance from family members, suggestion and guidance from nurses and previous experience of caring for a baby, and 3) consequences of becoming an early adolescent mother included 4 subcategories of increase maturity, worry about body image, lack of confidence and less peer relationship.