Youth in Mind

Do Teenage Mothers Experience Childbirth as Traumatic?

Cheryl Anderson, PhD, RN; Teena M. McGuinness, PhD, PMH-NP, BC

  • Journal of Psychosocial Nursing and Mental Health Services
  • April 2008 - Volume 46 · Issue 4: 21-24
  • DOI: 10.3928/02793695-20080401-01
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Abstract

Although several hundred thousand teenagers give birth each year in the United States, little is known about their psychological experience of childbirth, especially with respect to its traumatic impact. This article highlights the findings of a pilot study of 28 teenage mothers who reported on their traumatic and depressive symptoms related to childbirth. Literature on adolescent childbearing, posttraumatic stress, and postpartum depression is also reviewed.

AUTHORS

Dr. Anderson is Associate Professor of Nursing, University of Texas, Arlington, School of Nursing, Arlington, Texas, and Dr. McGuinness is Professor, University of Alabama at Birmingham, School of Nursing, Birmingham, Alabama.

The authors’ ongoing research in this area is exploring the immediate trauma impact postdelivery (acute stress disorder) and a pattern of symptoms from the prenatal period to 9 months postpartum.

Address correspondence to Cheryl Anderson, PhD, RN, Associate Professor of Nursing, University of Texas, Arlington, School of Nursing, 411 South Nedderman Drive, UTA Box 19407, Arlington, TX 76019-0407; e-mail: .c.anderson@uta.edu

doi: 10.3928/02793695-20080401-01

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